IMj^^!!!! 






\!rtlM^^ 



THE 



^^H2fe 




rrrrc 




^vmrprm^ 




diss Tl'Sf/yT) 



Book 



6 




cT 



SMITHSONIAiN DKPOSIT. 



THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SERIES; 
VOLUME III. 



THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SERIES. 

Works already Published. 

I. THE FORMS OF WATER IN RAIN AND RIVERS, ICE AND 
GLACI ERS. By J. Tyndall, LL. D., F. R. S. With 26 Illustraiions. 
Price, $1.50. 
II. PHYSICS AND POLITICS; or. Thoughts on the Afpucation of 
THE Principles of "Natural Selection" and "Inheritance" to 
Political Society. By Walter Bagehot. Price, $1.50. 
HI. FOODS. By Dr. Edward Smith. Illustrated. Price, $1.75. 
IV. MIND AND BODY: the Theories of their Relations. By 
Alexander Bain, LL. D. Price, $1.50. 
V. THE STUDY OF SOCIOLOGY. By Herbert Spencer. Price, $1.50. 
VI. THE NEW CHEMISTRY. By Professor Josiah P. Cooke, of Har- 
vard University. Illustrated. Price, $2.00. 
VII. ON THE CONSERVATION OF ENERGY. By Professor Balfour 

Stewart. Fourteen Engravings. Price, $1.50. 
VIII. ANIMAL LOCOMOTION; or. Walking, Sriimming, and Flying. 
By Dr. J, B. Pettigrew, M. D., F. R. S. 119 Illustrations. Price, 
$1.75. 
IX. RESPONSIBILITY IN MENTAL DISEASE. By Dr. Henry 
Maudsley. Price, $1.50. 
X. THE SCIENCE -OF LAW. By Professor Sheldon Amos. Price, 
$i.75- 
XI. ANniAL MECHANISM; or. Aerial and Terrestrial Locomo- 
tion. By C. J. Marey, Professor of the College of France , Member of 
the Academy of Medicine, Paris. 117 Engravings. Price, $i.7S- 
XII. HISTORY OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN RELIGION AND 
SCIENCE. By John W. Draper, M. D., LL. D. Price, $1.75. 

XIII. THE DOCTRINE OF DESCENT AND DARWINISM. By Oscar 

Schmidt, Professor in the University of Strasburg. Price, $150. 

XIV. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIGHT AND PHOTOGRAPHY; in its 

Application to Art, Science, and Industry. By Er. Hermann 
Vogel. One Hundred Illustrations. {Ingress.) 
XV. FUNGI; their Naturf, Influence, and Uses. By M. C. Cooke, 
M. A., LL. D. Edited by Rev. M. J. Berkeley, M. A., F. L. S. With 
109 Illustrations, {hi p7ess.) 
XVI. OPTICS. By Professor Lommel, University of Erlangen. (Jnp-ess.) 



FOODS 



b^^3.. 



THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SERIES. 



POODS 



EDWARD 



BY 



SMITH, M.D., 



LL.B., F.K.S. 



FELLOW OP THS KCYAL COLLEGE OF FriYflCIANS OF LONDON 

INSPECTOR AND ASSISTANT MEDICAL OFFICER FOR POOR LAW PURPOSES OF THE LOCAt 

GOVERNMENT BOARD 

LATE ASSISTANT PHYSICIAN TO THE HOSPITAL FOR CONSmiPTION, BROMPl'ON 

CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ACADEMIE DES SCIENCES, MONTPELLIER 

AND OF THE NATURAL HIFTORY SOCIBITT OF MONTRKAI. 

ETC. 




NEW YOEK: 
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 

549 & 551 BROADWAY. 
1875. 



PEBFACB, 



Laegelt-increased commercial intercourse witli dis- 
tant countries, associated with a marked improvement in 
the purchasing-power of the masses of the people, and 
the rapid increase of wealth generally, have attracted 
public attention to the subject of Foods and Dietaries 
in an unusual degree, so that not only is there a 
greater importation of foreign productions than for- 
merly, but new foods, or preparations of foods, are 
produced almost daily, some of which are specially 
fitted for certain classes of persons, as children, whilst 
others are of general use. Hence our food supplies, 
whether natural or prepared, offer increased variety of 
flavour, if not of nutritive qualities, and foods which 
were formerly restricted to the few are now commonly 
found on the tables of the many. 

Scientific research in every civilised nation has also 
diligently busied itself in the elucidation of the subject. 



Vi PEEFACE. 

and our knowledge has been increased in reference to 
the chemical composition, preparation, and physiological 
effects of food. 

With so many causes of change since the issue of my 
work on 'Practical Dietary,' it seemed desirable to pro- 
duce another which should embrace all the generally- 
known and some less-known foods, and contain the 
latest scientific knowledge respecting them, whilst at 
the same time the subject should be treated in a popu- 
lar manner. 

It was originally intended to include both foods and 
diets in one w^ork, but the subject has now become so 
large that it was found necessary to limit the present 
volume to foods alone, and to reserve the subject of 
diets and dietaries for a future occasion. 

The following pages contain a large number of tables, 
which will be useful for reference to both scientific 
and general readers, and also a number of very in- 
teresting recipes which, have been extracted from a 
somewhat rare volume called ' Cury,' containing a 
copy of ancient manuscript recipes of the master cook 
of Eichard the Second. The latter have been printed 
in the language of the fourteenth century, and, whilst 
interesting on that ground, will be understood with 
careful reading. 

The prices at which various kinds of animal food w^ere 



PKEFACE. Vii 

Bold, at a period somewhat anterior to these recipes, 
has not been referred to in the body of the work, 
but it was formerly regulated by law, and in 1315 was 
as follows : — 

' Edwarde by the Grace of God Kynge of England 
&c. To Shiriffes, Majors Bailiffes of Eraunchises 
Greeting: For as much as we have heard and under- 
standed the greevous complayntes of Archbishops, 
Bishops, Prelates and Barons, touching great dearth of 
victuals in our Eealme : We ordeyne from henceforth 
that no Oxe stalled or corne fedde be sold for more 
than xxiiiis. No other grasse fed Oxe for more than 
xvis.; a fat stalled Cowe at xiis.; another Cowe lesse 
woorth at X5. ; a fat Mutton corne fedd or whose wool is 
well growen at xxd.; another fat Mutton shorne at 
xiiii^. ; a fat Hogge of two yeres olde at iiis. iiii^. ; a 
fat Goose at iid., ob., in the Citie at iiicZ.; a fat Capon at 
iid., in the Citie iid. ob. ; a fat Hen at id., in the Citie 
at id. ob. ; two Chickens at id., in the Citie at id. ob. ; 
foure Pigions id., in the Citie three Pigions id. Item 
xxiiii Egges a peny, in the Citie xx Egges a peny. We 
ordeyne to all our Shiriffes.' 

I have also thought it desirable to somewhat extend 
the ordinary view of foods, and to include water and air, 
since they are subjects which command great attention, 
both in their food and sanitary aspects. 



viii PREFACE. 

The classification of foods lias been made on the 
simplest basis, since none other seemed equally good, or 
equally well adapted to the object of this work. 

I dare not hope that a volume of so much detail will 
be entirely free from typographical errors, but great 
pains have been taken to insure accuracy. 

Edward Smith. 

London: 140, Harley Street, w. 
Aj^ril 1873. 



CONTENTS, 



PAOK 

Introductoey: — Thk Nature and Quai-ities of, anj> the Neces- 
sity FOR, Foods . . . . , , . . 1 



PART I. 

SOLID EOQDS. 

Section I. — Animal Foods. 

a. Nitrogenous. 

CHAPTF.H 

I. Description and Cooking of Flesh 15 

II. Preserved Meat :— By drying ; Cold ; Immersion in Antiseptic 
Gases and Liquids ; Coating with Fat or Gelatin ; Heat ; 

Salt 22 

III. Bone 38 

IV. Characters and Composition of lean and fat Meat . . . 41 

V. Beef and Veal ^ . 46 

VI. Mutton, Lamb, Goat's, and Camel's Flesh . . , ,52 

VII. Pork, Sucking Pig, Bacon, and Wild Pig . . . 58 

VIII. Various Wild Animals and the Horse and Ass . . .69 

IX. Offal 75 

X. Sausages, Black Pudding, and Blood 82 

XL Extracts of Meat and fluid Meat . . ... 86 

XII. Albumen, Gelatin, and Casein 91 

XIIL Eggs , . 95 

XIV. Poultry and Game .100 

XV. Fish 105 

XVI. Shell-Fish and Turtle 114 

XVII. Cheese and Cream Cheese 120 

/3. Non-Nitrogenous. 

XVIII. Butter,. Ghee, Lard, Dripping, and Oils . . . .127 



CONTENTS. 



Section II. — Vegetable Foods. 

a. 'Nitrogenous. 
chaptf:r paqr 

XIX. Analogy of Animal and Vegetable Poods, and General 

Considerations on Seeds . . . . . .143 

XX. Peas, Beans, Lentils, &c 152 

XXI. Maize or Indian Corn, Millet, &c 156 

XXII. Kice 162 

XXIII. Oats 166 

XXIV. Wheaten Flour and Bread 171 

XXV. Wheaten Bread, Biscuits, and Puddings , . . .181 

XXVI. Barley, Maslin, and Eye ; Scotch and Pearl Barley ; 

Gluten 193 

XXVII. Succulent Vegetables 197 

XXVIII. Fruits : Succulent and Albuminous 213 

XXIX. Condiments 229 

)8. Non-Nitrogenous, 

XXX. Starch, Sago, Arrowroot, Tapioca, Cassara, Manioc, Se- 
molina 239 

XXXI. Vegetable Fats and Oils 246 

XXXII. Sugar, Treacle, Honey, and Manna 249 



PART II. 

LIQUIDS. 



XXXIII. Water 

XXXIV. Milk, Cream, Butter-milk, and Whey 
XXXV. Tea, Coffee, Chicory, Cocoa, and Chocolate 

XXXVI. Alcohols 



269 
312 
330 
371 



PART III, 

GASEOUS FOODS. 

XXXVII. Atmospheric Air 434 

XXXVIII. Ventilation 459 

Index ,. 477 



LIST OF EECIPES OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY, 

QUOTED FROM ' CURY.' 



PAGE 

Cok a Grees 68 

For to kepe Venison fro Kestyng 70 

For to do away Restyng of Venison 71 

GeleofFlessh .81 

Lenten Fish Soup 112 

GeleofFyssh 113 

Benes yfryed . 154 

EeSmolle. . , 162 

Blank Mang 163 

Furmenty . 177 

Maccoros 1^1 

Salat . 207 

Apple Tart , 218 



LIST OF DIAGRAMS, WOODCUTS, AND TABLES. 



SO. lAGR 

1. Thermometric foi-ce of Foods. FranJcIand 6 

2. Diagram, showing the rate of pulsation and respiration through- 

out two nights and one day in three phthisical persons. 

E. Smith 9 

3. Diagram, showing the same for twenty-four hours in a healthy 

child. E. Smith 9 

4. Diagram, showing rate of evolution of carbonic acid in the ex- 

pired air, with and without food. E.Smith . . . .10 

5. Diagram, exhibiting the effect of sudden and marked changes of 

temperature over the vital functions. E.Smith . . .11 

6. and 7. Effect of numerous kinds of exertion over the respiration. 

E. Smith 12, 13 

8, 9, 10. Drawings of Muscular fibre 17 

11. Soda in Blood and flesh-juice. Licbig 18 

12. Chemical composition of Bone ....... 39 

13. „ „ „ Cartilage 40 

14. Diagram, showing joints in a carcass . . . . . .42 

15. Proportion of fat and lean in fat and store animals. Lawes cf- 

Gilhcrt 43 

16. Chemical elements in Fat 45 

17. Composition of various kinds of Flesh. Mareschal . . .47 

18. Chemical elements in Eoast and Boiled Beef . . . .49 

19. Loss in Cooking beef 49 

20. Chemical composition of Veal 51 

21. Composition of Boiled Mutton 54 

22. Food stored up in Pigs, Sheep, and Oxen 59 

23. 24. Composition of Bacon 67 

25. Proportion of carcass and offal in animals . . . . .75 

26. Composition of Liver 79 

27. „ ,. Tripe 80 

28. „ „ fresh Blood ........ 84 

29. Salts in Blood . 85 

30,31. Composition of animal and vegetable Albumen . . .91 
32. „ „ Hen's egg 99 



XIV LIST OF DIAGRAMS, WOODCUTS, AND TABLES. 



NO. 

33. Composition of Flesh of Poultry 

Si, 35, 36. „ 

37. 



„ Various Fish. Fay en . 

„ Clean and Foul Salmon. Christison. 

„ Clieese 



Calvert 



39,40. „ „ „ . . . 

41. „ ,, „ . Payen 

42. Quantity of Water in Butter supplied to Workhouses. 

43. 44. Elements in Butter 

45. Drawing of Fat Cells 

46,47. „ „ Starch Cells 

48. The same expanded by heat .... 

49, 50. Drawing of Siliceous Cuticle of Wheat and Meadow 

51. ,, „ „ „ „ Deutzia . 

52. Elements in Lignine or Cellulose, and Starch 

53. Proportion of Starch in Foods 

54. Composition of Peas and Lentils . 

55. „ ,, Maize . 

56. „ „ Millet . 
57,58. „ „ Rice . 
59, 60. „ ,, Oatmeal 

61. Layers of the Skin of Wheat 

62. Analysis of Hart's whole-meal Flour. 

63. Composition of Seconds Flour 

64. ,, „ Wheaten bread 

65. ,, ,, Barley meal . 

66. „ ,, Pearl Barley 

67. „ „ Rye meal 

68. 69. „ „ Potato . 

70. Sp. Grr. of and Starch in Potato. Fohl 

71. Ash in various kinds of Potato. Hercpath . 
11. Drawing of Section of Sound Potato 

72. „ „ „ „ Diseased Potato . 

73. Composition of Chinese Yam. Fr'emy 

74. „ „ Apios and Potato. Payen . 

75. Elements in Turnips and Carrots .... 

76. 77. j> j» » » j» and Parsnips _ . 

78. Composition of Beet-root. Payen 

79. „ ,, Bread-fruit ..... 

80. „ „ the juices of Plantain . 

81. „ ,, of Cabbage. Anderson 

82. ,, „ of dried Mushroom. Schlosshevger ^■ 

83. „ ,, the-juice of the Grape . 

84. Sugar in Rhine Grape juice 

85. Composition of Mulberries, Bilberries and Blackberries 



Grass 



WanJc 



Bopping 



lyn 

135, 136 

. 138 



180 
181 
19i 
194 
195 
196 
199 
199 
200 
200 
201 
202 
203 
203 
204 
205 
206 
206 
207 
211 
215 
216 
Freseniiis 217 



LIST OF DIAGEAMS, WOODCUTS, AND TABLES. XV 



vo. 
86 
87. 
88, 
89, 
90, 
91. 
92. 
93. 
94. 
9o. 

96. 
97. 
98. 
99. 
100. 

101. 
102. 
103. 
104. 
105. 
106. 
107, 
109, 
111. 
112. 
113. 
114. 
115. 
116. 
117, 
119. 
120. 
121. 
122. 
123. 
124. 

125. 
126. 
127. 
128. 
129. 



Composition of Cherries. Fresenius . 
„ „ Apples 

„ ,, Strawberries and Easpber 

,. „ Plums, Apricots and Peaches 

„ „ Gooseberries and Currants 

Drawing of Nutmeg and Mace . 
,, „ Ginger plant . 

Elements in Sago, Arrowroot and Tapioca 

Drawing of Sago Palm 

Diagram, showing the effects of the Starch 
Eats on the Respiration. E. Smith . 

Composition of Sugar Cane 

Drawing of the Sugar Cane 

Proportion of Sugar in various Eoods . 

Elements in Milk Sugar and Cane Sugar 

Diagram, showing the effects of the Sugar 
Respiration. E. Smith . 

Sugar in Syrups .... 

Elements in Caramel .... 

Water in various substances 

Drawings of Crystals found in Water . 

Acidity, Ammonia and Albumenised Ammonia in 

Elements in Thames Water 

108. Mineral matters in Water . 
110. „ ,, „ „ . . 



Hardness of Water. Soap test 
Organic matter in Water . 



Nitrogen and Nitric acid in Ammonias 
Chlorine in Water .... 
118. „ „ „ .... 

Various substances in Water 



Drawing of Charcoal Filter in a cistern 
Mineral Waters .... 

Composition of Cow's Milk 
Diagram, showing the effects of the Milk series 

Respiration. E. Smith . 
Composition of kinds of Milk 

Salts in Milk 

Composition of Milk of Women in the Siege 
Salts of Milk 



Composition of Butter Milk 



Fresenius 



of Foods 



and of 



of Foods 



Water 



of Foodj 



of Paris 



PAGE 

, 218 
, 218 
, 221 
222 
222 
234 
237 
240 
241 

243 
251 
252 
259 
259 



on the 

. 260 
. 202 
. 263 
. 270 
. 272 
. 273 
. 275 
. 276 
. 277 
. 278 
. 282 
. 285 
. 286 
. 293 
. 298 
. 299 
. 300 
. 301 
. 309 
310,311 
. 313 
on the 

. 314 
. 315 
. 316 
. 317 
. 317 
. 328 



xvi LIST OF DIAGRAMS, WOODCUTS, AND TABLES. 

NO. PAGR 

130. Substitutes for China Tea 341 

131. Weight of Tea to bulk . 345 

132. Elements in Theine 346 

133. Diagram, showing the effect of the Tea series of Foods on the 

Eespiration. E. Smith 347 

134. Composition of Coffee 363 

135. „ „ the Cacao bean 370 

136. Diagram, showing the effect of the Alcohol series of Foods on 

the Eespiration. E. Smith 377 

137. Alcohol in Wines 390 

138. CEnanthic Ethers in Wines of the Gironde 392 

139. Proof Spirit in Hungarian Wines 397 

140. „ „ „ Greek Wines 398 

141. Drawing of the Palmyra Palm 405 

142. Saccharine matter in Beer 412 

143. Oxygen in Atmospheric Air 446 

144. „ „ „ „ 447 

145,146. Carbonic Acid in Atmospheric Air 450 

147. Estimation of Carbonic Acid in Air 451 

148. Organic matter in Atmospheric Air 454 

149. „ „ „ » ,, 455 

150. 151, 152. „ „ „ „ 456 

153. Vapour in a Cubic foot of Air at various temperatures . . 458 

154. Variation of Carbonic Acid with Ventilation. Dr. Angus Smith . 475 

155. 156. Carbonic Acid and Oxygen in Sick wards. do. . 47o 



FOODS. 



INTRODUCTOEY. 

THE NATURE AND QUALITIES OF' AND THE 
NECESSITY FOR FOODS. 

Before peoceeding to consider tlie numerous Foods 
whicli will come under review in tlie course of this 
work, it seems desirable to offer a few remarks of a 
general character on their nature and qualities and 
the necessity for them. 

As a general definition, it may be stated that a food 
is a substance which, when introduced into the bod}^ 
supplies material which renews some structure or main- 
tains some vital process ; and it is distinguished from a 
medicine in that the latter modifies some vital action, 
but does not supply the material which sustains such 
action. 

This is certainly correct so far as relates to the sub- 
stances which supply nearly all our nourishment, and 
which the Germans class under the term Nahrungs- 
mittel, but there are certain so-called foods known as 
Genussmittel, which seem to form a connecting link, 
in that they increase vital actions in a degree far beyond 
the amount ©f nutritive material which they supply. 



2 INTEODUCTOEY. 

They tliiis resemble certain medicines in their action, 
but as tbej sujoply a proportion of nutritive material 
tliey should be ranked as foods. 

It is essential to the idea of a food that it should 
support or increase vital actions; whilst medicines 
usually lessen, but may increase, some of them. 

It is not necessary that a food should yield every 
kind of material which the body requires, for then one 
might suffice for the wants of man; but that it fulfils 
one or more of such requirements, so that by a com- 
bination of foods the whole wants of the body may be 
supplied. Neither is it essential that every food should 
be decomposed or broken up, and its elements caused 
to enter into new combinations when forming or main- 
taining the structures of the body, since there are some 
which in their nature are identical with parts of the 
body, and, being introduced, may be incorporated with 
little or no change. 

But there are foods which are more valuable to the 
body than others, in that they supply a greater number 
of the substances which it requires, and such are 
known as compound foods, whilst others which supply 
but one element, or which are incorporated with- 
out change, may be termed simple foods. Other foods 
are more valuable because they are more readily 
changed into the substance of the body, or act more 
readily and quickly in sustaining vital actions, and 
these may be called easily digested or easily assimilated 
foods. Others are preferred because they supply a 
greater quantity of useful nutriment at a less propor- 
tionate cost, and are known as economical foods ; and 
foods varying in flavour are classed as more or less 
agreeable foods. 

Some foods are classed according to the source 
whence they are derived, as animal and vegetable foods ; 



KATUEE, QUALITIES, AND NECESSITY EOR FOODS. 3 

and others according to the density of their substance, 
as fluid and solid foods. 

There are foods which nourish one part of the body 
only, and others which sustain one chief vital action, 
and are called flesh-forming or heat-forming foods, 
whilst others combine both qualities. 

Besides these larger divisions, there are qualities in 
foods which permit of further classification, such as 
those which render them particularly fit for different 
ages, climates, and seasons, and others which possess 
a special character, as sweetness, acidity, or bitter- 
ness. 

There are also effects produced by foods apart from 
or in addition to those of nutrition, which are not 
common to all; so that some foods more than others 
influence the action of the heart, lungs, skin, brain, 
bowels, or other vital organ, whilst others have antago- 
nistic qualities, so that one may destroy certain effects 
of another. 

Foods are derived from all the great divisions of 
nature and natural products, as earth, water and air, 
solids, liquids and gases; and from substances which 
are living and organic, or inanimate and inorganic. 
The popular notion of food as a solid substance derived 
from animals and vegetables, whilst comprehensive, is 
too exclusive, since the water which we drink, the air 
which we breathe, and certain minerals found in the 
substance of the earth, are of no less importance as 
foods. 

It is, however, of great interest to note how fre- 
quently all these are combined in one food, and 
how closely united are substances which seem to be 
widely separated. Thus water and minerals are found 
in both flesh and vegetables, whilst one or both of the 
component parts of the air, viz., oxygen and nitrogen. 



4 INTRODUCTORY. 

are distributed tlirongh. every kind of food. Hence, 
not only may we add food to food to supply the wants 
of tlie body, but we may within certain limits substitute 
one for another as our appetites or wants demand. 
The necessity for this in the economy of nature is 
evident, for although a good Providence has given to 
man an almost infinite number of foods, all are not 
found everywhere, neither can any man obtain all foods 
found around him. 

Further, there seems to be an indissoluble bond 
existing between all the sources of food. There are 
the same classes of elements in flesh as in flour, and 
the same in animals as in vegetables. The vegetable 
draws water and minerals from the soil, whilst it absorbs 
and incorporates the air in its own growth, and is then 
eaten to sustain the life of animals, so that animals 
gain the substances which the vegetable first acquired. 
But in completing the circle the vegetable receives from 
the animal the air which was thrown out in respiratioii, 
and lives and grows upon it, and at length the animal 
itself, in whole or in part, and the refuse which it daily 
throws off", become the food of the vegetable. Even 
the very bones of an animal are by the aid of nature or 
man made to increase the growth of vegetables, and 
really to enter into their structure ; and being again 
eaten, animals may be said to eat their own bones 
and live on their own flesh. Hence there is not only 
an unbroken circle in the production of food from 
different sources, but even the same food may be shown 
to be produced from itself. Surely this is an illustra- 
tion of the fable of the young Phoenix arising from the 
ashes of its parent ! 

Food is required by the body for two chief purposes, 
viz., to generate heat and to produce and maintain the 
structures under the influence of life and exertion 



KATUEE, QUALITIES, AND NECESSITY FOE FOODS. 5 

The importance of the latter is the more apparent, 
since wasting of the body is familiarly associated 
with decay of life ; but the former is so much the more 
urgent, that whereas the body may waste for a 
lengthened period, and yet live, it rapidly dies when 
the source of heat is removed or even greatly less- 
ened. 

The production of heat in the body, so wonderful in 
the process and amount, results only from the chemical 
combination of the elements of food, whether on the 
minute scale of the atoms of the several tissues, or on 
the larger one connected with respiration, and is thence 
called the combustion of food. As familiar illustra- 
tions of the production of heat from chemical change, 
we may mention that when cold oil of vitriol and cold 
water are added together the mixture becomes so hot 
that the hand cannot bear it, and the heating of hay- 
stacks, and also of barley in the process of malting, is well 
known. This action in the body is not restricted to 
changes in one ^element alone, but proceeds with all ; 
yet it is chiefly due to a combination of three elements, 
viz., oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon, and requires for its 
support fat, starch, or sugar, or other digestible food 
composed of those substances precisely as coal and 
wood supply fuel for fire without the body. 

This effect is made extremely striking, by Professor 
Frankland, in the following table, which shows the 
amount of heat generated from so small a quantity as 
ten grains of certain foods during their complete combus- 
tion within the body, and the force which scientific 
calculations have shown to be equivalent to that amount 
of heat. The original quantity used by Prof. Frankland 
has been reduced by Dr. Letheby to ten grains, for 
the convenience of English readers. {Royal Inst. 
April 1868.) 



INTEODUCTORY. 



No. 1. 







In coirbnstion 








raises lbs. of 


Which Is equal 




Food 


water 1 degree 


to lifting lb3. 






Fahrenheit 


1 foot high 


10 grains of dry flesh . 


1312 


10.128 




,, albumen 


12-85 


9,920 




„ lump sugar . 


8-61 


6.647 




„ arrow root . 


1006 


7,766 




„ butter . 


18-68 


14,421 




„ beef fat 


20-91 


16,142 



Thus we prove that an ounce of fresh lean meat, if 
entirely burnt in the body, would produce heat sufficient 
to raise about 70 lbs. of water 1° F., or a gallon of water 
about 7° F. In like manner, one ounce of fresh butter 
would produce ten times that amount of heat ; but it 
must be added, that as the combustion which is effected 
within the body is not always complete, the actual effect 
is less than that now indicated. 

It may thus be shown that the division of foods into 
the two great classes of flesh-formers and heat-genera- 
tors is not to be taken too incisively, for whilst a food 
is renewing flesh it also produces heat, and whilst the 
heat- generating food is acting it may also produce a 
part of flesh in the form of fat ; but although they are 
so closely associated in their vital work, the leading 
characteristic of each kind is so marked as to warrant 
the classification which Liebig has formulated. 

It is understood that the structures of the body are 
in a state of continual change, so that atoms which 
are present at one hour may be gone the next, and, 
when gone, the structures will be so far wasted, unless 
the process of waste be accompanied by renewal. But 
the renewing substance must be of the same nature as 
that wasted, so that bone shall be renewed by bone and 
flesh by flesh ; and hence, whilst the body is always 
changing, it is always the same. This is the duty 



NATUEE, QUALITIES, AND NECESSITY EOE FOODS. 7 

assigned to food — to supply to each part of the body 
the very same kind of material that it lost by waste. 

As foods must have the same composition as the 
body, or supply such other materials as by vital action 
may be transformed into the substances of the body, it 
is desirable to gain a general idea of what these sub- 
stances are. 

The following is a summary statement of the principal 
materials of which the body is composed : — 

Flesh in its fresh state contains water, fat, fibrin, 
albumen and gelatin, besides compounds of lime, phos- 
phorus, soda, potash, magnesia, silica and iron, and 
certain extractives. 

Blood has a composition similar in elements to that 
of flesh. 

Bone is composed of cartilage, gelatin, fat, and salts 
of lime, magnesia, soda and potash, combined with 
phosphoric and other acids. 

Cartilage consists of chondrin, which is like gelatin 
in composition, with salts of soda, potash, lime, phos- 
phorus, magnesia, sulphur and iron. 

The brain is composed of water, albumen, fat, phos- 
phoric acid, osmazome and salts. 

The liver consists of water, fat, and albumen, with 
phosphoric and other acids in conjunction with soda, 
lime, potash and iron. 

The lungs are formed of a substance resembling 
gelatin, albumen, a substance analogous to casein, 
fibrin, various fatty and organic acids, cholesterin, with 
salts of soda, and iron and water. 

Bile consists of water, fat, resin, sugar, fatty and or- 
ganic acids, chole?terin and salts of potash, soda and iron. 

Hence it is requisite that the body should be pro- 
vided with salts of potash, soda, lime, magnesia, sulphur, 
iron and manganese, as well as sulphuric, hydrochloric, 
•2 



8 INTEODUCTORY. 

phosplioric, and fluoric acids and water; also nearly- 
all the fat which it consumes daily and probably all 
the nitrogenous substances which it requires, and 
which are closely allied in composition, as albumen, 
fibrin, gelatin and chondrin. It can produce sugar 
rapidly and largely, and fat slowly and sparely, from 
other substances ; also lactic, acetic, and various or- 
ganic acids, a-nd peculiar extractive matters. 

So great an array of mysterious substances might 
well prevent us from feeding ourselves or others if the 
selection of food depended solely upon our knowledge 
and judgment ; but it is not so, for independently of 
the aid derived from our appetites, there is the great 
advantage of having foods which contain a proportion 
of nearly all these elements ; and combinations of 
foods Lave been effected by experience which protect 
even the most ignorant from evil consequences. 

Thus flesh, or the muscular tissue of animals, con- 
tains precisely the elements which are required in our 
flesh- formers, and, only limited by quantity, our heat- 
generators also ; and life may be maintained for very 
lengthened periods upon that food and water when 
eaten in large quantities. Seeing, moreover, that the 
source of flesh in animals which are used as food is vege- 
tables, it follows that vegetables should have the same 
elements as flesh, and it is a fact of great interest that in 
vegetables we have foods closely analogous to the flesh of 
animals. Thus, in addition to water and salts, common 
to both, there is vegetable jelly, vegetable albumen, 
vegetable fibrin, and vegetable casein, all having a com- 
position almost identical with animal albumen, gelatin, 
chondrin and casein. 

Hence our appetites and the bountiful provision 
made for us extend our choice to both the vegetable and 
animal kingdoms, and it is possible to find vegetable 



Page 8. 



N?2. 



ItmrfyrJiiisatimJkMapinitiorv uv Phthisis. 
JUNE 12 V 




N°3. 



Page 9 



Moojt^ Pvdsatufru&Respiraliom 
Ca^eJEt. S. 

M-idrdght' 







NATURE, QUALITIES, AND J^ECESSITY FOR /OODS. 9 

foods on whicli man could live as long as upon animal 
food alone. Bread is in vegetable foods that which flesh 
is in animal foods, and each within itself contains nearly 
all the elements required for nutrition. 

When, however, we bring knowledge of a special kind 
to the aid of our appetites, we are able to discover both 
the deficiencies in any given food and the kind of food 
which would meet them. Thus a knowledge of the re- 
quirements of the system and of the available uses of 
food, leads to the proper combinations of food, or to the 
construction of dietaries. 

We have thus placed face to face the requirements of 
the body and the qualities of the foods to be used to 
supply them, but it is of very common observation that 
the effect of the supply is but temporary and needs 
renewal at definite periods. Hence we show that the 
needs of the body are tolerably uniform, whilst the effect 
of the supply is temporary, or that' both the need 
and the supply are intermittent. This may be readily 
represented by showing the line of change in the 
degree of vital action on the body during the twenty-four 
hours, as produced by my own investigations and 
delineated in the following diagrams. 

Diagram No. 2 shows the rate of pulsation and res- 
piration per minute, throughout tw^o nights and one 
day, in three adult phthisical persons. The pulsation 
is represented in the upper and the respiration in the 
lower series of lines, and the letter S indicates that the 
patient was asleep at the time of observation. {Brit. & 
For. Med.-GMr. Rev. 1856, and Med.-Chir. Trans. 1856.) 

Diagram No. 3 represents the same facts as observed 
in a healthy child eight years of age, and delineated in 
the circle of the twenty- four hours. It includes two 
lines, which represent the observations on two days. 
(Meciico (^hi^nirqical Trans. 1856.) 



10 IKTRODUCTOKY. 

In both of these diagrams the shaded part shows the 
hours of darkness at the period of the year when the 
observations were made. 

Diagram 'No. 4 shows the quantity of carbonic acid 
evolved by myself in respiration at each hour from 
6.30 A.M. until midnight, on two occasions with food, 
and on one day of entire abstinence from food, the 
whole of the carbonic acid being collected. {Phil. 
Trans. 1859.) 

Thus during the repose of the night the amount of 
vital action, as shown by the respiration and pulsation, 
is low and tolerably uniform, whilst under the influence 
of food it is high and varies during the day extremely, 
but the general course is such that a large increase 
takes place after a meal, and a considerable decrease 
before the following meal. This increase, followed by 
decrease, being due to the action of food, proves that 
the influence is temporary, and that after a sufiicient 
interval another supply of food is required. At the 
same time it must be allowed that the body is not 
entirely a passive agent subject to the controlling 
action of food, for no supply could prevent the vital 
actions subsiding at night, or make them equal both 
by night and day. 

There is a power inherent in the body which 
accepts or rejects food as to amount, as well as to 
quality, and which might at length act through the 
appetite and refuse the kind supplied. Moreover, 
the wants of the body vary from many other well 
known influences, and cause an increase or decrease 
in the vital actions which proceeds pari passu with 
the consumption of the transformed or stored-up food 
in a degree proportionate to the cause, but such 
eflfects are often more rapid and transitory than that of 
food. 



Page 10 



CcaimUc/kUL wit/i cuuL mO)Diilfbo±. 



Jfwr 


AX 




SraaJoast 






F^ 






Tea. 
















6i 


7 


* 


9 


H 


10 


^O} 


J2 


^ 


J 


2 


H 


3 


a 


5 


6 


ei 


7 


S 


9 


10 


Ji 




Carhjlca 
















































T>rr.-min,. 














A 
















































/ 






















\ 












1 1 












1 


1 






















\ 














- 










/ 
























\ 


L 








- 












/ 


























s 


















1 














































c 




1 




























































1 










































A 






J 






4 


































V 


\ 






1 




.'■ 


J 


\ 








■ 


^ 


rral 










■ 














u 






r" 




1 






\ 




[\ 


rf/ 






























: 




/ 










i , 




\-' 




9 


























1 




1/ 


















JimyJ5 




\ 














r 


-\ 


•y 


y 
























^iff. 


\i 


J 










i 
























U 














!\ 










































,._ 






■ ' 








































■ 8 






1 


\ 






r 


































— 


— 




i 


\ 




/ 






































i 
1 




\ /' 


f 










































1 




\/' 














^. 






























n. 
















/ 


\ 


\ 




















n 


.or 


? 




f\ 


\ 














/ 




^ 


^ 












--\ 






1 


±. 


A 


^i 


— 


\ 












J 














"\ 


\ 


/ 


\ 








V 


























V 
















'1 






































L 








J 




























1 












mi 


u 








_ 


_ 








_ 




-I- 


_ 


_ 






_ 


_ 


_ 


__. 



I>ia^can> shewi/tg 9vt qtianbCfy cf Carbonic Add, evoh>«3b Sxtring fht Aiay wiSv 
fbooL an. tuv occasions and, wii/unti fboA on one occojioru 1858 . 



N«5. 



Page G 



Cafhmic Acid and TempembrjK. 

FIC:I. 
JRiMwrt of TemperoJbre &>Carbomu Acidon April I3^loZ7^18S8. 



Ten^: 


I — n 

43 


^/./ 


s*' 


sas 


s« " 


eo.s 


ez-i 


ez6 


€3-6 


sq' 


S8 




954 


9-46 


8-H 


8-3 


8-4 


8.08 


&04 


<f-76 


<f-4 


8_-7J 


€■63 I 




77 


6-9 


7'Z 


7- 


S.4 


e-62 


S-3S 


S-12 


iTMrxl 


432 


438 


444 


40C 


236 


394 


J06 


348 


392 


^ 


r^ 


64 Self 


A 


















M 


^.«^ 


>nieJ^ 


id.. 










O^ 


'^ 


-/- 




8- 


60° 




V- 




^^~-- 


;-=^ 


V 






^ 


! 


S 


5Ml ^ 


^J/^ 




^ 


y 


'■ 








^--^ 


kfe-- 


7. 


5S° 


V ■ 


\j 


/ 


^ 


-^— 1 














• s 


54° 






■^ 




\ 




A 




. ... 






6- 


62° 




/ 




\ 


I 


'\ 






/ 


^i^JwHf- 


■s 


60° ^ 


/ 






^ 


\/ 






L^'^- 


5- o 


«° !S 


/ 














^ 










-^ 

















lJ 


1 



RelaXim of OyrbonCc 

Acid, to lencperature 
1858. 
Cbcri: Adit I'm.arazjzsJ joeff^ 

lo eaA eU^ree of Temp: [Mrjf. 




Carb; .AciA foi- grains I 

per nan.. 
lessenai, wiiA, each, degree \Mr}€' 

cfTemp: dboye t7-5 



NATUKE, QUALITIES, AND NECESSITY FOE FOODS. 11 

The variations in the requirement for food are in- 
duced by age, climate, season, and degree of exertion, 
and will be more fully discussed in the work on 
Dietaries ; but it may now be desirable to give a glance 
at some of them. 

In reference to age, there can be no doubt that all 
vital processes, including the action of foods, are greater 
and more rapid in early, and less and slower in later, 
than in mature life, and in both the former a more 
frequent administration of food is necessary. In early 
life, moreover, there is the important function of growth, 
which demands a large and more frequent supply of food, 
not only for daily wants, but to promote a due increase 
in the bulk of the structures of the body. 

I have elsewhere ^ shown that the season of the year 
has also a decided influence over the vital actions, so 
that they are the greatest in the spring and the least at 
the end of summer, as is illustrated by the following 
diagram. 

Diagram 'No. 5 exhibits the effect of sudden and 
marked changes of temperature over the vital function 
in two adult persons. The effect was such that the 
quantity of carbonic acid evolved by the respiration was 
inverse as the change in the temperature ; the vital 
changes lessening with increase of temperature, and 
vice versa. [Phil. Trans. 1859.) 

The action of climate is similar to that of season, 
and shows that the vital actions are greater in cold 
than in hot climates, and in the uplands than in close 
valleys. 

The influence of exertion over vital chano-es is im- 
mediate and proportionate, whilst the subsidence with 
rest is less rapid than the increase. The following 

* • Health and Disease : Periodical Changes in the Human Body.' — 
Henry S. King «fe Co., Cornhill. 



12 



INTKODUCTOEY 



table of experiments upon myself shows the pro 
portionate effect of exertion of varying degrees on the 
basis of the increased volume of air inspired : — 



No. 6. 



The lying posture . 
The sitting postiire . 
Reaclijig aloud or singing 
The standing posture 
Railway travelling in the 1st class 
„ 2nd class 
upon the engine, at 20 to 30 miles per hour 
„ „ 50 to 60 „ 

in the 3rd class 

upon the engine, average of all speeds 

,, „ at 40 to 50 miles per hour 

30 to 40 

Walking in the sea 

„ on land at 1 mile per hour 
Riding on horseback at the walking pace 
Walking at 2 miles per hour . 
Riding on horseback at the cantering pace 
Walking at 3 miles per hour . 
Riding moderately ..... 
Descending steps at 640 yards perpendicular per hour 
Walking at 3 miles per hour and carrying 34 lbs. . 

62 „ . 
Riding on horseback at the trotting pace 

Swimming at good speed 

Ascending steps at 640 yards perpendicular per hour 
Walking at 3 miles per hour and carrying 118 lbs. . 
" ,, 4 miles per hour ..... 
The tread-wheel, ascending 45 steps per minute 
Running at 6 miles per hour 



being 



1 

1-18 

1-26 

1-33 

1-40 

1-5 

1-52 

1-55 

1-58 

1-58 

1-61 

1-64 

1-65 

1-9 

2-2 

2-76 

316 

3-22 

3-33 

3-43 

3-5 

3-84 

405 

4-33 

4-4 

4-75 

5-0 

5-5 

7-0 



The next table from the same series of experiments 
shows the same effect on the basis of the amount of 
carbonic acid evolved by respiration per minute : — 



2SATUIIE, QUALITIES, AND NECESSITY FOE FOODS. 18 



No. 7 



In profound sleep, lying posture 




4-5 grains 


In light sleep „ „ 




. 4-99 „ 


Scarcely awake, 1.^ A.M. . 




. 5-7 „ 


2I „ . . . 




. 5-94 „ 


„ 6i „ . . . 




. 61 „ 


Walking at 2 miles per hour . 




. 18-1 „ 


M 3 „ „ . . 




. 25-83 „ 


Tread -wheel, ascending 28-15 feet per ni 


inute 


. 43-36 „ 



Thus it is possible that the amount of vital change 
proceeding in tlie body may be ten times greater in one 
state than in another, and it follows that a propor- 
tionate quantity of food will be required to sustain it. 



PART I. 
SOLID FOODS 

Section I. — Animal Foods. 
a. Nitrogenous, 



CHAPTEE I. 

DESCEIPTION AND COOKING OF FLESH. 

The qualities by which foods may be classified have 
been already shown to be numerous and open to the 
selection of the enquirer ; but as it is not desirable in a 
work of this kind to attempt too much refinement of 
mere outline, we will omit two subjects, and refer the 
classification on the grounds of economy and chemical 
action to the work on Dietaries, whilst here we make 
use of the familiar but comprehensive one of solids, 
liquids, and gases. Solids will be divided into animal 
and vegetable, and each subdivided into nitrogenous and 
non-nitrogenous. We shall proceed first to treat of solid 
animal foods. 

This important series of food might be subdivided 
into two other classes, viz., those which constitute the 
substance of an animal and are obtained when it is dead, 
and those which are the natural product of the animal 
and are obtained whilst it lives. The former includes 



16 NITEOGENOUS ANIMA.L FOODS. 

the flesh, and as it varies in diJBPerent classes of creatures, 
it is popularly subdivided into flesh, fish, and fowl, 
v^hilst the latter are milk, eggs, and other products. 
Those who profess to be vegetarians eat the latter only. 
It is also divided into lean and fat, both of which abound 
in animals generally, and this leads to a yet more tech- 
nical division, viz., into nitrogenous and non-nitro- 
genous foods, since all lean flesh contains nitrogen, whilst 
all fats when pure are destitute of it. 

Hence, however differing in apj)earance, all kinds of 
flesh have certain nutritive qualities in common ; but 
the proportion in which the qualities exist varies, and 
each large division of the class has its own nutritive' 
value. 

The anatomical composition of flesh is very similar in 
every kind of creature, whether it be the muscle of the 
ox or of the fly ; that is to say, there are certain 
tubes which are filled with minute parts or elements, 
and the adhesion of the tubes together makes up the 
substance of the flesh. This may be represented grossly 
by imagining the finger of a glove, to be called the 
sarcolemna, and so small as not to be apparent to the 
naked eye, but filled with nuclei and the juices peculiar to 
each animal. Hundreds of such fingers attached together 
would represent a bundle of muscular fibres. The 
tubes are of fine tissue, but are tolerably permanent ; 
whilst the contents are in direct communication 
with the circulating blood and pursue an incessant 
course of chemical change and physical renewal. The 
quality of meat consists in the character of the pulp or 
enclosed substance, whilst the toughness depends chiefly 
upon the tubes and the structures which bind them 
and other parts together, and both vary with the age 
and breeding of the animal. The aim in modern breed- 
ing is to produce the greatest amount of muscle and 



DESCKIPTION AND COOKINO OF FLESH. 



17 



fat at the earliest period of life, but it is well known 
tliat whilst delicacy of flavour may thus be obtained, 
fulness and richness can be produced by age only. 
It is well knowu also that the connecting tissue, or 
the substance which binds the parts together, is re- 
latively more abundant in ill-fed, ill-bred, and old 
animals than in the opposite conditions, and renders 
the meat tough. Hence it will be readily inferred 
that young and quickly fed animals have more water 
and fat in their flesh, whilst older and well-fed animals 
have flesh of a firmer touch and fuller flavour, and are 
richer in nitrogen. The former may be the more delicate, 
the latter will be the more nutritious. 

There are, however, two divisions of flesh which mast 
be refeiTed to, for although not differing much in 
chemical composition, they vary in their value as 
nutrients. The fibres of flesh generally are crossed 
by lines invisible to the naked eye, so that all voluntary 



No. 8. 




No. 9. No. 10. 



^^WA I 



II ;ll 



No. 8. Vokintarv muscle (striatpd).— No. 9. Transverse section of three 
fibres of the teal. — Xo. 10. Involuntary mu?cle (non-striated). 

A. Of the cat. f. Capillary vessels. 

B, c. Of the house-fly. G. Showing nuclei when treated watli 

D. The sheath. acetic acid. 

E. Round refracting particles. 



muscles are striated (fig. a); but the heart and other 
muscular organs which do not move by volition have 



18 NITEOGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS, 

muscular fibres which are not striated (No. 10), and are 
termed involuntary muscles. The latter are softer in 
their texture than ordinary flesh, but are not easily 
masticated; so that, notwithstanding their identity in 
nutritive elements, they are not so nutritious as ordinary 
flesh, and never obtain so high a price in the market. 

The juice of flesh has an acid reaction, and is more 
abundant in striped than in plain muscular fibre. It 
contains albumen, casein, creatine, creatinine, sarcine, 
lactic acid, inosic acid, and several volatile acids, in- 
cluding formic, acetic and butyric acids, a red pigment 
similar to the colouring matter of the blood, and inor- 
ganic salts, chiefly alkaline chlorides and phosphates. 
It is much richer in potash than soda, as shown by the 
following comparison with 100 parts of soda in flesh- 
juice and blood (Liebig) : — 

No. 11. 



In the blood 


Ox 
5-9 


Horse 
9-5 


In flesh-juice . 


. 279-0 


285-0 



It is said by the hunters in southern latitudes that 
flesh is the most tender and juicy if eaten directly after 
the animal has been killed, and whilst it is yet soft — 
nay, even when the animal is alive ; but if the stiff'ening 
of the flesh, called rigor mortis, have begun, it remains less 
tender until the rigidity has passed away and the changes 
of early decomposition have set in. Meat is always 
eaten in hot climates in its first or second state, unless 
means be taken to preserve it, since decomposition sets 
in too rapidly to allow it to be safely kept fresh for 
more than a few hours. On the other hand, flesh is 
never eaten in colder climates before the second state, 
and in order to lessen the hardness or toughness of it, 
it is usual to allow it to enter the third state, when it 
becomes soft and tender, and has gained a flavour from 



DESCRIPTION AND COOKING OF FLESH. 19 

decomposition which is often approved. The nutri- 
tious elements, speaking generally, are the same in 
each state until the effects of decomposition appear, 
bat the nutritive qualities, being dependent upon the 
pov^er to masticate and digest the flesh, may be really 
less in the second than in either of the other states. 

The desired effect may be produced at any stage in a 
rough manner by cutting the flesh into slices and 
beating it across the cut ends until the fibres are broken 
and the connecting tissues forced asunder ; but to effect 
this the slices must be thin. 

The effect of cooking flesh is chiefly physical, 
and is chemical in a very limited sense only. When 
meat is either roasted or boiled, it decreases in bulk and 
vreight, and the cooked food is generally less soft than 
fresh meat in the first state. The diminution in bulk 
and weight is owing to the extraction of the juices of so 
much of the mass of flesh as may have been acted upon 
by the heat, and these are chiefly water containing salts, 
and the peculiar flavour of meat, with a proportion of 
fat in a fluid state, gelatin, and perhaps some albumen. 
The flesh thus treated becomes contracted in bulk, from 
loss of the juices and by coagulation of the albumen, 
whilst the mass is composed of solid fibrin, with a pro- 
portion of albumen, and the juices and fat which have 
not been extracted. The tubes having lost much of their 
contents, shrink and separate from each other, and so 
far the meat may be made more tender ; but this varies 
in degree, and is often more than counterbalanced by 
the hardening of the albuminous contents of the 
tubes. 

The object of cooking is to render the flesh more 
submissive to mastication and digestion, but it may 
be entirely frustrated if the substance of the flesh be 
hardened in any appreciable djegree. It is also em- 



20 NITKOGENOQS ANIMAL FOODS. 

ployed to make tlie food hot wlieii it is eaten with a 
view to improve its flavour, and to stimulate the sense 
of taste. It is only an incident in cooking, however 
inseparable from the act, that the flesh should diminish 
hi weight by the loss of its fluid parts, but if all that is 
valuable from the extracted matter be collected, there 
will be no real loss of nutriment. There is, however, in 
this respect some difl"erence according to the mode of 
cooking. If the meat be boiled, the introduction of fluid 
into the substance of themeat, whether between the struc- 
tures or within the fibres, aids the extractive process, 
but at the same time retains and preserves that which 
is extracted. If it be roasted whilst sun'ounded on all 
sides by the air, the heat is not applied so uniformly and 
gently, and therefore the outside becomes overcooked 
before the inside is sufficiently cooked, and this occurs 
to a far greater extent than with boiling. Hence not 
only is the fluid part of the juices extracted and lost, but 
the loss is greater than when the meat is boiled. It is, 
however, to be understood that the matters extracted 
are only such as may be dispersed by heat ; and whilst, 
therefore, the evaporated water may carry off some of the 
flavours of the meat, it does not remove the salts which 
are present in the juices. Hence meat which is pro- 
perly roasted has lost weight more than that which 
is boiled ; but if no account be taken of the matters 
extracted, it contains a larger proportion of nutritive 
elements than the larger mass of boiled meat, and in a 
given weight is more nutritious. When, however, the 
extracted matter is collected and used, there is a greater 
proportion of nutriment in the boiled meat with the 
broth than in the roast meat with the liquefied fat, and 
it is clearly desirable that both the broth and the boiled 
meat should be eaten together. 

Stewed meat occupies a position between that of 



DESCRIPTION AND COOKING OF FLESH. 21 

boiled and roast, for it may have been submitted to a 
greater heat and for a longer period than boiled meat, 
and tlferebj a larger proportion of soluble matter may 
have been extracted, whilst it difters from roasted meat 
in that the outside is not hardened and all the extracted 
material is retained. Boiled meat may be cooked so 
that the solid part shall still retain nearly all the 
nutritive elements of flesh, whilst the solid part of the 
stewed meat maybe even less nutritious than the mate- 
rial which has been extracted from it. 

The degree in which extraction of the juices takes 
place in cooking meat depends upon the heat employed, 
so that the proper application of heat is a fandamental 
question in cookery. It has been intimated that the 
extraction of the juices is chiefly from the cut ends of 
the soft fibres, and that the fibres become harder by the 
coagulation of the albumen during the process of cook- 
ing. When, therefore, the fibres have become hardened, 
they have lost some of their contents, but this condition 
prevents or retards the further passage of juices from 
parts beyond the hardened ends. The sooner, therefore, 
the hardening process can be effected, the sooner will 
the loss of juices be diminished or prevented. Dipping 
the meat to be boiled into boiling water effects this 
object, for albumen coagulates at a temperature much 
below that of the boiling point of water ; and placing 
the meat to be roasted very near the fire at first has the 
same effect. Thus less juices escape (all other parts of 
the process being equal), and the mass of flesh retains 
its nutritive elements. This is clearly desirable when 
the flesh only is to be consumed ; but if it be desired to 
make good broth or beef tea, the opposite course must 
be adopted, and by keeping the temperature below 160° 
the tubes may be emptied to a far greater degree than 
with a higher temperature. Hence the explanation of 



22 NITROGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

the saying, that you cannot have good broth and good 
meat from the same ijiece of flesh. 

But the preliminary point having been settled, the 
proper mode of cooking is clearly not to coagulate the 
albumen unduly, but to make the whole mass of meat 
soft and tender. A slow fire, or water at a temperature 
of 160°, will suffice to expand the fibres, and in some 
degree to rupture them, whilst it separates these and 
other structures and renders the whole mass more fitted 
for mastication and digestion. To keep meat in boiling 
water, or to expose the joint to continued heat before 
the fire, is to make it hard and to extract a greater 
proportion of the juices. 

Mesh thus treated is less susceptible of decomposition 
than fresh meat, by reason of its harder crust and 
the diminution of its juices, and may thus be preserved 
in a state fit for the use of man for some time. 



CHAPTER II. 

PRE SERVED MEAT, 



The art of preserving meat for future use, with a view 
to increase the supply and lessen the cost of this neces- 
sary food, is of very great importance to this country, 
and all the available resources of science are now 
engaged in it. 

It is of course the most desirable to import meat in its 
fresh state, both that its nutritive qualities may be 
retained, and that its flavour and appearance may com- 
pare favourably with those of the meat produced at 
home. It is not, however, possible to obtain a sufficient 



PRESEEVED MEAT. 23 

supply from countries so near to us that it may be 
bruuglit in a sound state without having undergone 
some process of preservation, and hence the problem to 
be solved is what is the best method of preserving it so 
that it may retain its qualities of fresh meat until its 
arrival here. 

We w^ll now proceed to state briefly only the iyirical 
methods which have been recently employed in pre- 
serving meat on a large scale, viz., by drying, by cold, 
by immersion in liquids and gases, by coating with fat, 
by heat, by salting, and by pressure. 

A. — By Drying. 

A long-known method of preserving meat is to cut it 
.into thin slices, and dry it in the sun, as is practised 
in South America and in other climates hotter than 
our own ; but unless the atmospheric conditions be 
favourable, and the drying effected raj^idly, the process 
of decomposition is not prevented, and when it has 
been prepared it is fit for use for only a very limited 
period. 

Dr. Hassall has applied a method by which meat 
may be preserved for a lengthened period in a dried 
state. He thoroughly dries lean meat by the appli- 
cation of a gentle heat, and then grinds it into a coarse 
powder, which may be made into soup by the addition 
of hot water, or mixed with flour and made into biscuits. 
The flavour of it in soup is somewhat rough, and 
the soup is not equal in quality to that made from 
fresh meat, but the nutritive qualities of the lean 
meat are there, except the aromas, which may have 
escaped under the influence of heat. Hence, if it be 
entirely digestible, it is the most nutritious of all the pre- 
served substances used in the preparation of soup ; and 



24 ■ NITEOGENOUS ANM^IAL FOODS. 

when wliite of egg, with condiments and vegetable juices, 
are added, the sonp is fit for use, both by the invalid and 
the healthy. 

The method is not adapted to the preservation of 
meat for separate use, since the cost of preparation 
would prevent its sale in the market ; but it is employed 
in the preparation of meat biscuits for the use of 
soldiers or travellers, and for portable soup. 

The drying of meat by artificial means may be the 
most c[uickly effected over burning coals. Herrings 
and some other fish are also preserved by the drying 
process only, as by the heat of the sun or the action 
of warm air, with or without the fumes of burning 
wood ; but this food will not resist decomposition beyond 
a very limited period. 

Dried Hamburg beef is well known in this country, 
although not so extensively used as in Germany and 
other continental states. It is a very nutritious and 
agreeable food, and will remain good for many months. 
It is smoked as well as dried, and is used in the pre- 
paration of sausages. 

M. Tellier of Paris, in his work, entitled ' Conservation 
de la Viande et autres Substances alimentaires par le 
Troid on la Dessiccation,' gives the following method. 

He first rarefies the contained air by an air-pump to a 
tension of two or three centimetres of mercury, and then 
fills the vessel with carbonic acid gas from a gasholder, 
so that the atmosphere will consist of only about three 
per cent, of air. This he removes by the air-pump to 
the same tension, and the remaining air is almost en- 
tirely carbomc acid gas. Once more, however, he fills 
the vessel with carbonic acid, and again removes it as 
before. Afterwards he absorbs the carbonic acid by the 
use of a concentrated solution of potash, by which a very 
near approach to a vacuum occurs. After leaving the 



PRESERVED MEAT. 25 

meat thus treated for three days, it is removed, and may 
be kept sound without any further trouble, but it will 
have lost eighteen to twenty per cent, in weight. 

B.— By Cold. 

The application of cold, as is well known, has great 
influence in retarding decomposition. Flesh packed in 
ice, from which the water is properly drained, Vv^ill 
retain its freshness for several weeks ; and in cold 
climates, where the temperature is constantly below 
freezing point, will remain fresh for months whilst 
exposed in the open air. But the effect of cold is 
to lessen, if not to change, somewhat the flavour of the 
substance, so that whilst it may be really good food 
it does not fully equal recent fresh meat. This defect 
is, however, limited ; and if there were sources of meat, 
which at the same time supplied ice abundantly, it 
would be possible to import meat at a price and of a 
quality which might be very acceptable in the markets 
of this country. Hence the real difficulty is to provide 
a sufficient quantity of ice at the ports of South 
America and Australia, in which to preserve the meat 
for long voyages, without imposing a charge which 
would unduly raise the price of the meat when im- 
ported. There could be no difficulty in obtaining 
ships that they might carry a sufficient quantity of ice 
from which the water would be perfectly drained, and 
thus solve the problem in a more satisfactory manner ; 
but so long as our supplies of meat are from hot 
climates the expense will be a serious impediment to 
such a commercial enterprise. It is, however, in my 
opinion, the most fitting mode of solving the problem, 
'and it should be effected either by inducing the inhabi- 
tants of countries where ice is abundant in the cold 



2(5 ISITKOGENOUS AlNIMAL FOODS. 

season to grow animals for our markets, or by storing 
large quantities of ice in an economical manner at the 
ports of other meat-producing countries. Moreover, it 
is now possible that ice may be made anywhere at so 
small a cost as to be available for this purpose ; for 
Messrs. Nasmyth, of Manchester, have constructed 
machines, on the patent of M. Mignot, by which 60 lbs. 
of ice may be made per hour at the cost of condensing 
and then rarefying air, and a company has been formed 
with the intention of producing as many tons daily. 

We need not despair of seeing the time when the whole 
carcass of an animal will be imported in a state fit to 
be cut up in our shops for immediate sale, and when 
the exporters from Australia will supply themselves with 
ice for this purpose from the southern hemisphere, or 
when the pastures of the North American continent will 
become our chief, as they may be our nearest, sources 
of supply. Canada offers unbounded facilities for this 
purpose, by reason of its great ice fields, its pastures 
and agricultural population, as well as its nearness to 
this country ; and should the present high price of meat 
continue, it will induce commercial men to organise a 
system, both of feeding the animals and of exporting 
the meat in ice, which may be very profitable to the 
Canadians. 

M. Tellier of Paris, in his work before mentioned, has 
described a process which demands great consideration, 
inasmuch as he removes much of the moisture from the 
atmosphere. 

He proposes to place joints of meat in a chamber 
through which a current of air, charged with ether or 
other volatile substance, may be passed with a view to re- 
duce the temperature, so that the vapour in the air shall 
be frozen, but the temperature not reduced below — 1° 
Centigrade, that is about 30° F. He would not freeze the 



PEKSEKVED MEAT. 27 

juice of the meat, but by a low temperature keep the 
chemical and vital actions at their lowest point. He has 
given directions for the construction of ships for the 
voyag-e, and for the fitting-up of stores, and indeed all 
the details, from the slaughtering of the animal to the 
arrival of the food in England. The following is 
extracted from the work referred to : — 

' Ce que j'emploie, c'est un courant d'air froid aniene 
directement un peu au-dessous de 0°, ou des courants Hquides 
a — 8"" on —10°, qni, saisissant Tatinosphere, congelent riiumi- 
dite qu'elle renferme, la dessechent et abaissenfc rapidement sa 
temperature, fourDissant ainsi les resultats cherches. 

Dans cette condition, non-seulemenfc ratmosphere est con- 
stamment purifiee des miasmes organiques qn'elle renferme, 
mais une legere et lente dessiccation se produit, dessiccation qui 
vient aussi aider a la conservation (environ 10 pour 100 en 
poids pour six semaines). 

Tout le mecanisme de I'operation consiste done, on le voit, 
a constituer de simples magasins froids. Ces inagasins peu- 
vent etre la cale d'un navire, I'interieur d'un wagon, un local 
quelconqne. Ce qui iin/porte seulement, c'est que la temyierature 
y reste fixe entre 0° et — 1°, e'est-a-dire, au point ou I'eau en 
suspension dans I'atmosphere est solidifiee, tandis que cello 
renfermee dans les tissus se maintient liquide, preservee qu'elle 
est de la congelation par les substances en solution dans elle.' 

C. — By Immersion in Antiseptic Gases and Liquids. 

There are numerous gases, such as sulphurous acid 
and nitrous acid, wdiich have great power in retarding 
decomposition, and have been used for the preservation 
of meat ; but when the method was practically applied 
on a large scale, it did not yield satisfactory results. 
There are two difficulties to be overcome, — first, 
the removal of the air surrounding the meat; and 
second, the prevention of a disagreeable flavour, which 



28 NITROGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

may be due either to tlie preserving agent or to the 
process of putrefaction. 

Mr. Jones patented a method by which he first 
enclosed a quantity of meat in a tin, and after filling 
the vacuities with water, replaced it by the preserving- 
gas, and then sealed the tin to prevent the re-a.d- 
mission of the atmospheric air. The theory on which 
the method was founded was good, and the art 
employed seemed to be trustworthy ; but whilst some 
of the meat thus treated remained fresh for weeks, 
other joints were partially decomposed and unfit for 
food. Moreover, when the operation had been suc- 
cessful, the change in the flavour and the appear- 
ance of the meat was not agreeable; and although, 
if the meat were tinned, these considerations might not 
prevent its sale, it would deter purchasers from giving 
a price at all approaching that of fresh meat. It is, 
however, probable that a modification of the method, 
whether in the gas employed or in the mode of pro- 
cedure, might obviate both these defects. 

Messrs. Medlock and Bailey have patented a process 
of preserving meat in bisulphite of lime or zinc, which 
while it arrests putrefaction, is said not to injure the 
flavour of the meat. It may be adopted in hot climates, 
where animals are killed only after sunset, and the 
joints preserved at once by immersion and subsequent 
drying, or.it may be applied in this country, at home or 
in the market, to a piece of meat with a sponge, and 
thus retard putrefaction. 

D. — By Coating with Fat or Gelatin. 

■ Professor Redwood applied a plan by which the joint 
would be entirely enclosed in fat, and being thus kept 
from contact with the air, might not be decomposed. 



PEESERVED MEAT. 29 

This appeared likely to be a useful procedure, and it 
attracted the attention of Professor Gam gee and other 
scientific men, with a view to utilise it. It has not, 
however, succeeded in establishing a profitable trade, and 
probably from one or all of the following reasons. 
Firstly, when the joint was placed in the heated liquid 
fat the outside became cooked to a certain degree, and 
after the fat had been removed it did not present the 
appearance of a fresh uncooked joint. Secondly, the 
exclusion of the air was not always T>erfect, or the 
putrefactive process had already commenced in some 
part of the joint previous to the operation, so that on 
arrival in this country the meat was not fit for food. 
Thirdly, although the cost of the refined fat where the 
meat was produced might not be great, its value on being 
removed from the joint in this country was so lessened 
that the loss from this cause alone on a lesf of mutton 
was one shilling, and by so much the cost of the meat 
was increased. 

There should be no insuperable difficulty in the re- 
moval of the two first-named defects, and so soon as 
the fat used can be made sufficiently profitable in 
this country, the third defect should also disappear. 
We may have to wait for the discovery of a more per- 
fect method, but a step in advance seems to have been 
taken by Mr. Craig. This gentleman has prepared a 
fat, almost without flavour, which will remain hard and 
uncha,nged for many months, and may be used in 
cooking after having performed the duty of preserving 
the joint of meat, whilst its cost in this country is only 
sixpence to sevenpence jDer pound. 

This method in a modified form is adopted in the 
preparation of pemmican and potted meats. In the 
former, the dried meat is minced and mixed witli about 
half its weight of fat, whilst fresh meat iw used in the 



30 NITROGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

latter, and in both the fat is not only incorporated with 
the meat, but covers the surface. But although condi- 
ments are usually added, and are said to retard the 
putrefactive process, the latter food will not remain 
good for a lengthened period, and the method is of 
little value in reference to the importation of meat. 

The application of oil instead of fat as a preserving 
agent for meat has not hitherto been practicable, on 
account of its cost and flavour, and the tendency which 
it has to become rancid, but it has long been employed 
for more costlj^ substances, as sardines, and when 
enclosed in hermetically sealed tins, has been found 
very effectual. 

E. — By Heat. 

The application of heat has hitherto been the most 
successful method of preserving meat, and has called 
into existence a vast machinery for preparation and 
exportation from distant meat-producing countries. It 
has two objects, — first, to prepare the meat; and 
second, to exclude the atmospheric air, which, if 
allowed to remain, would advance the process of putre- 
faction. 

It is perhaps not necessary that the meat should be 
boiled in order to acquire a condition in which it is the 
best fitted for preservation, since a temperature of 200° 
would coagulate the albumen and reduce the volume 
of the juices. It is, however, necessary to remove the 
surrounding atmospheric air from contact with it, and 
therefore the meat is enclosed in a tin case, from which 
the air is to be excluded as perfectly as possible, by 
rarefaction. The degree of heat which is necessary 
to effect the latter object is more than enough to 
cook the meat, and hence, whilst both objects are 



PEESERVED MEAT. 31 

effected by the same operatioiij the meat becomes 
overcooked. 

The process of preserving meat in this manner is a 
very simple one. A tin having been prepared, a piece 
of raw flesh and fat is selected and placed in the tin 
with or without a small quantity of fluid. The cover 
is then soldered on, and the tin is closed, except at a 
small hole through which air and steam may escape when 
heat is applied. 

The following is Mr. Jones' method, as described by 
himself : — 

' We put the meat into tins, either with or without bone, in 
joints or otherwise. The tins are filled quite full, and are 
soldered up entirely, with the exception of a small tube, about 
the size of a quill, which is soldered into the top of the tin. 
The tins are then put into a bath capable of holding 96 6 -lb. 
tins. Along the centre of the bath runs a tube carrying 12 
taps, into each of which may be inserted a tube from 8 tins, 
there being 8 stuffing boxes to each tap, 4 on each side. The 
tube communicates with a vacuum chamber. The bath contains 
a solution of chloride of calcium, which boils at a tempera- 
ture of from 270° to 280°. In commencing operations, the bath 
is gradually heated until it gets to about 212°. Communica- 
tion is then opened with the vacuum chambei', and the result 
is, that as water boils at about 100° in vacuo, the water is 
carried oiF in the shape of steam, into the vacuum chamber, 
where it is condensed. The tap is then turned, so as to shut 
off communication with the vacuum chamber, and the meat is 
cooked at a high temperature, until complete preservation is 
effected. We then go on cooking the meat, occasionally turn- 
ing the taps, just to do what engineers call priming, in order 
to draw off any fluid that may be in the tins. After it has 
been thus cooking for about two hours at 250°, it is in a pre- 
served state.' 

This process is not identical with boiling meat, for, as 
the tin becomes filled with the vaporised liquor, the 
meat is stewed, and neither boih^d nor roasted. 
3 • 



82 NITEOGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

It is not possible, bj the application of sucli a mode- 
rate degree of heat as would not destroy the meat, to 
expel all the air from the tin, and all thafc can be 
effected is by expansion of the air to expel as much of it 
as possible. It has been proved b}^ experiment that the 
temperature of boiling water does not do this in such a 
degree as would preserve the meat, and hence a degree 
of heat which is too f^reat for the cooking^ of the food 
must be increased by 20° or more to accomplish the 
other and yet more necessary object, and by Mr. 
Jones' process the meat is cooked at a temperature of 
250°. After a certain duration of exposure to the 
action of heat, the hole in the cover is closed by solder, 
and the tin is hermetically sealed. 

The meat thus preserved is overcooked, and a large 
part of the juices being extracted by the process, the 
fibres are greatly loosened, and the mass readily 
breaks up. 

On opening such a tin the meat is found enclosed in, 
and indeed permeated, by a gelatinous substance, the 
weight of which is about a quarter of the original 
contents of the tin, and inasmuch as this gelatinous 
gravy may have been flavoured by condiments and burnt 
meat, it may be very agreeable, but the meat itself is 
fibrous, loose, not easily masticated, and not very agree- 
able to the palate. 

The problem of preserving meat by heat for lengthened 
periods has therefore been solved, but not in a perfectly 
satisfactory manner. If it be desired to use only the 
meat and to exclude the gelatinous gravy, the diminu- 
tion of weight largely increases the original cost of each 
ration, and when eaten it is neither so agreeable nor 
so nutritious as meat cooked in the ordinary manner. 
When, however, all the contents of the tin are used 
together, as in preparing Irish stew or soup, the ex- 



PRESERVED MEAT. 33 

tracted matter becomes available for and valuable as 
food, and the only defect is the difference in sensible 
qualities, which is perceived when it is compared with 
fresh meat. 

The desideratum in the preserving process is to expel 
the air sufficiently without over-cooking the meat, but 
it cannot be effected, except in the manner pointed out 
when sulphurous acid gas is employed, for the fluid must 
permanently remain in the tin or the air would be 
readmitted, and if the quantity of fluid be large the 
proportion of solid meat would be too small to make 
the operation profitable in a commercial point of view. 
It may appear easy to fill the can with the solid meat 
well pressed down, and then so far exclude the air that 
but little fluid would be necessary to complete that part 
of the process ; but bubbles of air would be enclosed in 
the folds of the meat, and would remain notwithstanding 
the tendency of the liquid to enter every vacuity, and 
wherever they existed the process of putrefaction could 
not be prevented. 

Yet it is worthy of consideration whether something 
more cannot be done in this direction, whereby the 
application of so high a degree of temperature may be 
rendered unnecessary. Thus, if the meat were first 
partially cooked at a temperature of, say, 180°, and cut 
into blocks or slices, and placed carefully in la3^ers 
until the tin case was nearly filled, and then boiling 
liquor were added to entirely fill the case preparatory 
to exposing the tin and contents to a temperature of 
200° to 212° for a limited period, I think it probable that 
the desired end might be obtained without over-cooking 
the meat in its present degree. 

Cooked meat might be preserved by the gaseous and 
fatty methods already described, and since the bulk 
would thus be lessened, and the chance of decomposition 



3 J- NITEOGENOUS ANIMxVL FOOD. 

somewhat lessened also, it may be desirable to further 
consider the matter. If this could be effected, it would 
probabl}^ be better to roast or bake the meat before it 
is enclosed in fat, since the latter would more readily 
attach itself to it than to boiled meat. 

The greater proportion of the meat imported from 
Australia is mutton. 



F. — Salted Meat. 

The oldest and best known preserving agent is salt, 
with or without saltpetre. Its chief action appears to 
be due to its power of attracting moisture, and by thus 
extracting fluid to harden the tissues. Solution of 
the salt in water is, moreover, accompanied by the ab- 
sorption of heat, so that it tends to lower the tempera- 
ture of the meat with which it is in contact and so far 
aids in preserving it. 

The modes in which it is applied are numerous and 
deserve a little consideration. 

The well-known methods are, simply rubbing the 
surface of the meat with salt, or immersing the meat 
in a strong solution of salt with the addition of salt- 
petre, and in order that they may be effectual it is 
necessary that the meat to be salted should be of a 
newly killed animal. When the preservation is to be 
effected by rubbing the salt into the flesh, the opera- 
tion should be renewed from day to day, or at longer 
intervals, and every fold of the meat, particularly near 
the bones, should be well rubbed. Meat thus pj-e- 
served by salt alone loses its colour, but when salt- 
petre is added the flesh becomes of a reddish colour 
throughout, provided the action be sufficiently pro- 
longed. 



PRESERVED MEAT. 35 

A good brine is made of 4 lbs. of salt and ^ lb. of 
saltpetre in 6 pints of water. 

It is usual to employ salt and saltpetre when pre- 
paring the dried strips of flesh, called charqui in the 
South American States and tasajo in Nicaragua, for the 
climate does not allow the meat to be so thoroughly 
dried in a few hours as to prevent decomposition. 
The meat selected for this purpose is very lean, and in 
preparing the food for the table it is essential to use fat 
of flesh or lard, and to flavour with vegetables, herbs 
and good gravy. 

Salt is also used very generally when preparing 
dried fish. 

Mr. Morgan devised an ingenious process by which the 
preserving material, composed of water, saltpetre, and 
salt, with or without flavouring matter, was distributed 
throughout the animal, and the tissues j)6rmeated 
and charged. His method was exemplified by him 
at a meeting of the Society of Arts, on April 13, 1854, 
when I presided, and is described as follows in the 
Journal of that Society of the preceding March : — 

' A bullock having been killed in the usual way, the 
chest was immediately opened, and a metal pij^e with a 
stopcock inserted in connection with the arterial system. 
The pipe was connected, by means of elastic tubing, 
with a tub filled with brine, placed at an elevation of 
about twenty feet above the floor. The stopcock being 
turned, the brine forced itself through the arteries of 
the animal and passing through the capillaries flowed 
back through the veins carrying with it all the blood, 
making its exit by means of an incision j^i'ovided for 
that purpose. About six gallons of brine passed thus 
through the body, washing out all the blood from the 
vessels. Having thus cleared all the vessels, the metal 
pipe was connected with another tub similarly placed, 



36 NITROGENOUS ANIIMAL FOODS. 

containing the preservative materials to be injected, 
and at the same time their exit after traversing the 
body was prevented. On communication being made, 
the liquid became forced into the vessels, and by means 
of the pressure it penetrated into every part of the 
animal.' Much of it proceeded through the minute 
vessels, called the capillaries, into the veins, but a con- 
siderable proportion exuded through the sides of the 
blood-vessels, and escaped into the cavities of the body 
and the surrounding tissues. The whole body was 
thus an incorporation of flesh and brine, and the 
operation was complete in a few minutes. After a 
short time, the carcass could be cut up into joints and 
packed for exportation. 

The preservative material which he recommended was 
1 gallon of brine, i to J lb. of sugar, -J oz. of mono- 
phosphoric acid, a little spice and sauce to each cwt. 
of flesh. 

The process was ingenious and sound in theory, and 
the preservation of the meat was complete when no 
untoward event occurred, but it failed in certain in- 
stances. When performed in this country it was used 
chiefly to preserve meat for the Navy, and not for home 
consumption ; but there is no difliculty in employing 
the method in foreign meat-growing countries for the 
use of any people wishing to eat salt meat. 

Salted meat has, however, several defects which will 
always prevent its general use whenever fresh meat 
can be obtained. 

1. The salt extracts a considerable quantity of the 
juices, and by so much lessens the nutritive value and 
natural flavour of the meat, and as these extracted 
juices are obtained only when mixed with salt they 
cannot be used as food. The flesh is harder thaa 



PKESERVED MEAT. 37 

cooked fresh meat, in proportion to the strength of 
the saline solution and the duration of the applica- 
tion of it. This is particularly the case with the 
meat which is both salted and dried, so that after 
having been prej)ared for some months it cannot be 
rendered soft by any amount of soaking in water and 
skill of cooking. The spasmodic attempts which were 
made to introduce charqui into common use entirely 
failed for this reason. This is, however, compara- 
tively slight when the meat is highly salted and in- 
tended for early use, and, with subsequent judicious 
immersion in water and cooking, nearly all the hardness 
may be removed. 

2. The flavour differs very greatly from that of cooked 
meat, and although when used occasionally it is agree- 
able, it is not preferred to fresh meat as a regular article 
of diet. 

3. The introduction into the system of so much salt 
is prejudicial to health, whether by lessening the relish 
for food or inducing a craving for fluids, indigestion, 
or skin disease. 

4. The capability to nourish the system is lessened by 
the various effects n(fw mentioned, and a given weight 
of salted meat is not equal in nutritive value to that 
of fresh boiled meat with the meat liquid added, or to 
fresh roasted meat. 

Hence it is not desirable to extend the operations of 
preserving meat by this process, provided a sufficient 
supply of meat can be obtained, whether preserved or 
otherwise, in its fresh state, and commercial and scien- 
tific men should be encouraged to improve the method 
by which meat may be preserved un^alted. 

It is still the practice to salt or pickle beef and other 
-kinds of meat for the year's supply in Anglesea and in 



38 NITROGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

the Highlands of Scotland, and the animals being killed 
in the cold weather, the meat takes the salt readily, but 
it is a less prevalent practice than formerly. It is 
called mairt in Scotland to signify Michaelmas time — 
the period when it is prepared. 

G. — By Pressure. 

The Eiver Plate, and also the Texan Pressure Meat 
Preserving Companies, have adopted Henley's process of 
meat preserving, by which the meat is cut into thin slices 
and subjected to pressure, which causes much of the juice 
and fat to be removed from the meat, and the meat and 
juices are treated and [ reserved separately. It remains 
to be seen whether meat with the juices pressed out of 
it can be sold, or will be valuable as food. It will not 
be meat in the ordinary sense of the word. 



CHAPTER III. 

BONE. 



The value of bones as food is not a recent discovery, 
since the knuckle bones of veal and the marrow of 
marrow bones have long been in request, but it is only 
of late years that a proper estimate has been made of 
the nutritive material, which by a careful process may 
be extracted from them. 

Bones consist principally of two substances, viz., 
gelatin, which may be obtained by immersing them in 
weak muriatic acid, and mineral matter which may be 
separated by burning the gelatin, and so great is the 
proportion of each, that the form of the bone is still 
retained when either is taken away. 



BONE. 39 

TiiG following is the chemical composition of dr}' 
ox- bones, in 100 parts : — 

No. 12. 



Gelatin .... 


. 33-3 


Phosphate of lime 


. 57-30 


Carbonate of lime 


. 3-85 


Phosphate of magnesia 


. 2-05 


Soda and chloride of sodium 


. 3-45 



Hence one-third of the weight of dry bone consists 
of nitrogenous matter, which when extracted could be 
used as food. This is a much larger proportion than 
is found in fresh bread or meat. 

But besides these elements, there are others in fresh 
bones which are of great value in nutrition. Such are 
oil, nitrogenous juices, and flavouring matters which 
vary with the kind of bone. 

Bones consist of three parts which require notice as 
foods. The solid shaft, as of the long marrow bones, 
the cellular structure of the flat bones, and the car- 
tilaginous ends of the bones at the joints. 

The solid shaft cannot be used as food by the process 
of boiling, since it does not disintegrate by that agency, 
and in order to extract the gelatin, it is desirable to 
grind the bone before boiling it. The marrow is, 
hoAvever, very valuable both as a fat and for its agree- 
able flavour, and may be roughly reckoned as equal in 
nutriment to half of its weight of butter. The can- 
cellated bones may be first roughly broken and then 
disintegrated by digestion in a closed vessel with hot 
water for twelve to twenty-four hours. The cells 
contain fluid which consists of water, fat, and nitro- 
genous and flavouring matters, which are valuable and 
agreeable additions to foods, so that this class of bones 
is the most valuable for food. 



40 NITEOGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

The ends of the bones are composed of cartilage, and 
as in early life they contain but little bony matter, 
they are easily detached by boiling-, and may almost in 
their entirety be used as food, but in later life they are 
firmly attached to the rest of the bone, and are filled 
with bony matter. 

Bone cartilage of the ox and calf has the following 
ultimate composition per cent. — [Fremy). 

No. 13. 

C. H. N. 0. 

Ox . . . 49-81 7-U 17-32 25-67 

Calf . . . 49-9 7-3 172 25-6 

Lt is evident, therefore, that the chemical composition 
and the nutritive value of bones, wall vary with the 
class and age of bones, and particularly with the care 
which has been taken to extract all the food material 
that can be obtained from them. 

When the shin and leg bones are sawn into small 
pieces and boiled in an open vessel for 7 hours, they lose 
10 per cent, of their weight, and the loss extends to 19 
per cent, after 9 hours boiling. The cancellated bones, 
as the vertebrse, ribs and flat bones generally, lose 16 
and 24 per cent, after having been boiled 7 and 9 hours. 
The loss of weight indicates soluble matter and, in a 
general sense, food. 

Mr. F. Manning undertook for me a series of chemical 
enquiries into this subject which have sufiiced to show 
how much greater is the true nutritive value of bones 
than is ordinarily allowed, and consequently the use 
which should be made of those structures by all who 
would not waste, and by the j)Oor who cannot afibrd to 
waste food. If we first take a mixture of ordinary flat 
bones, as the spine, ribs, and shoulder blades, we find that 
after they have been properly digested in boiling water 
for about eighteen hours they yield 748 grains of carbon, 



COMPOSITION OF FAT AND LEAN MEAT. 4i 

and 20*1 grains of nitrogen for each pound of bone. 
The shin bones give a yet higher nutritive value, viz., 
81 7 '6 grains of carbon and 28*5 grains of nitrogen. If 
we compare this with the composition of one pound 
of beef, we find that the latter is equal to about three 
pounds of shin bones in carbon, and to six pounds in 
nitrogen, so that the nutritive value of bones may be 
reckoned at one-third that of beef in carbon, and one- 
sixth in nitrogen. 



CHAPTER lY. 

CHARACTERS AND COMPOSITION OF LEAN AND FAT MEAT. 

Each kind of meat has its own characteristic flavour, 
so that the tastes of different persons, or of the same 
person at different times, may be gratified by selection. 
This depends chiefly upon the juices contained in the 
fibres of the flesh, and on minute quantities of flavouring- 
matters incorporated with the fat, as well as upon the 
oily or fatty matters mixed with the juices of the flesh. 
A fine quality of meat has abundant and full flavoured 
juices, with a considerable proportion of fatty matter, 
and appears red and pulpy, but inferior meat is paler 
and more fibrous in appearance, with but little of the 
proper flavour peculiar to the animal. 

Each animal is also cut up into joints as shown in 
the following diagram of the side of an ox, and it is 
well known that different joints or parts of the same 
animal have different flavours, and not only such parts 
as are distinct in function as the liver and the flesh, 
but even those whose function is identical. Thus the 
flavour of a leg of mutton differs from that of a 



42 




COMFOSITION OF LEAN AND FAT MP:AT. 



43 



shoulder, altliongli both joints are composed of flesh, or 
muscle, having the same duty to perform. Hence 
arises the preference for one joint over another, and 
the agreeableness of variety of joints ; and according 
to the general preference will be the market value of 
the food. 

The flesh of all animals is, moreover, divided into two 
principal parts, viz., fat and lean in their separate state, 
besides the oily or fatty matter which is so mixed up 
with the juices and tissues as not to be evident to the 
naked eye. This becomes a further ground for pre- 
ference and selection, as each individual likes much or 
little fat, for one customer disliking fat, prefers the 
meat or the joint with little fat, whilst another, liking 
fat, rejects that kind of meat or that joint which is 
destitute of it. 

The absolute and relative proportions of fat and lean, 
vary both with the animal and the condition in which 
it is killed, and it may be convenient to state here the 
results which have been arrived at by agricultural 
chemists so far as relates to the carcass or the part of a 
slaughtered animal which is sold as meat. 





No. 


15. 






Oxen, store 


Water 
per cent. 
. 60-8 


Lean or 
Nitrogenous 
per cent. 
18 


Fat 

per cent. 

16 


Salts 

per cent 

5-2 


„ half fat 


. 54 


17-8 


22-6 


5-6 


„ fat 


. 45-6 


15 


34-8 


4-6 


Calves, fat 


. 62-3 


16-6 


16-6 


4o 


Sheep, store 


. 57-3 


14-0 


23-8 


4-4 


„ half fat 


. 49-7 


14-9 


31-3 


41 


„ fat 


. 39-7 


11-5 


45-4 


3-5 


,, very fat 


. 33 


91 


55-1 


2-8 


Lambs, fat 


. 48-6 


10-9 


36-9 


3-6 


Pigs, store 


. 55-3 


14 


281 


2-6 


„ fat 


. 38-6 


10-5 


49-5 


1-4 



Thus the proportionate quantity of fat in an ox may 



44 NITEOGENOUS ANIIVIAL FOODS. 

be doubled according to the condition of the animal 
when slaughtered, and when quite ready for the market 
it is probably not less than one-third of the whole 
weight. This proportion in fat sheep is increased to 
nearly one-half, and is clearly much greater in sheep 
and pigs than in oxen, whilst it is the least in calves. 

The true nutritive value of the fat and lean re- 
spectively is much the same in all animals used as food, 
so that the same weight of lean meat from one animal 
should (other things being equal), nourish the body as 
well as the same from another. When, however, it is 
used in compulsory dietaries, the influence of appetite or 
the relish for the food plays an important part in the 
phenomena of nutrition, and with less relish of even the 
same weight of food there will probably be less diges- 
tion and assimilation of it, and thereby less nutrition. 
Moreover, when the joint selected is hard to masticate, 
of coarse grain and poor flavour, the same result will 
follow for the same reason. 

Hence ease of mastication and digestion, and ap- 
proved flavour, have an influence over the selection 
of food, and afiect its market value. 

The question of economy is a complex one, being 
mixed up with that of selection, nutritive value, and 
commercial value, whilst the commercial value is based 
upon the law of demand and supply, which may in only 
a limited and uncertain degree be based upon nutritive 
value. Thus whilst the so-called best are probably 
somewhat more nutritious and agreeable than inferior 
joints, the limited number of such in an animal may be 
disproportionate to the number of persons demanding 
them and a fictitious price may be afiixed to them. In 
like manner, whilst the inferior joints should be sold 
at a cheaper rate, the supply in difi'erent localities 
may be above or below the demand, and their price will 



COMPOSITION OF LEAN AND FAT MEAT. 45 

be above or below tbat which is fairly due to their 
nutritive value. 

When comparing the nutritive values of different 
kinds of meat, it is essential to distinguish between fat 
and lean, and the nutritive elements of both in a given 
joint or whole animal will be proportionate to the com- 
bination of fat and lean. Fat is heat- generating alone, 
whilst flesh is both flesh-forming and heat-generating ; 
and the difference between the two in this respect is the 
absence of nitrogen in fat and its presence in lean 
flesh. 

As this question will frequently arise in the following 
pages, it may be desirable to anticipate a little and to 
state here the elements of fat and lean flesh re- 
spectively. 

Fat, when entirely deprived of water, consists of three 
elements only, viz. : carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen in 
the following proportions, in 100 parts : — 

No. 16. 
C. 77. 0. 11. H. 12. 

When the fat is decomposed in the body these 
elements unite, so that the carbon takes a part of the 
oxygen and becomes carbonic acid, whilst the hydrogen 
takes another part of the oxygen and becomes water, 
any deficiency in the quantity of oxygen for this pur- 
pose being supplied by the inspired air. 

Lean flesh entirely deprived of fat consists of four 
elements, viz. : nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, 
and the proportions of each are almost identical with 
those of albumen, to which reference will be made in a 
future page. 

Besides the combination of the . three latter elements 
already mentioned in reference to fat, the nitrogen 
unites with the hydrogen in the formation of urea and 



46 NITEOGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

other compounds which are thrown out of the system, 
and ultimately transformed into ammonia. 

As heat is generated by every chemical combination, it 
is evident that both fat and flesh are heat-generators, 
but as nitrogen enters into the composition of flesh in 
the body, the lean flesh and not the fat can supply that 
element, and therefore the former and not the latter is 
the flesh-former. It must not, however, be supposed that 
this line of division is so strongly drawn that no fat is 
found in lean flesh, for a proportion of fat moving in the 
circulation must enter into and pass through the tissues 
of muscles as of other parts of the body. 



CHAPTER V. 

BEEF AND VEAL. 

Beef. 

Beef is popularly regarded in all parts of the world as 
the most nutritious kind of flesh, and although this 
opinion was formed without the aid of science, it is so 
far true that in the carcass of the ox there is a larger 
proportion of flesh or flesh-forming materials than in 
that of the sheep or hog. It is of closer texture 
than many other kinds of meat, so that if the measure 
be bulk, there is more nutritive material in a given 
quantity of beef. It is also the fullest of red blood 
juices ; so that Byron, seeing Moore eating an underdone 
beef-steak, asked if he were not afraid of committing 
murder after such a meal. 

This is clearly shown by the proportion of lean 
flesh which exists in the muscular flbre of various 
animals used as food. The following is the analysis of 
Mareschal, in 100 parts: — 



Fowl 
24-9 


Pig Sheep Calf 
24-3 23-4 227 


1-4 


6-0 3-0 2-9 


737 


697 737 74-4 


f is 


fuller and richer 


that 


its use not only 



BEEF AND VJilAL. 47 

No. 17. 
Ox 
Muscular fibre, free from fat . 25-0 
Fat ...... 2-0 

Water 72-5 

Moreover, the flavour of beef 
than that of other meats, so that 
gives greater enjoyment, but a sense of satisfaction 
is obtained from a less volume of that kind of flesh. 
The first is, however, the best reason ; and it is based 
upon two facts, viz., that the proportion of lean to fat in 
moderately fed beasts is less and of both to bone is 
greater than in either of the other animals referred to. 

The composition of beef is as follows : — carbon 34-3, 
and with the free hydrogen reckoned as carbon 45*02, 
nitrogen 2*9, besides oxygen and hydrogen in pro- 
portions to form w^ater. 

When considering the average amount of lean and 
fat on the whole carcass, Lawes and Gilbert found the 
proportion in 100 parts of the carcass to be 34-4, and of 
the offal 21, in pigs, sheep and oxen together, but it 
varied in each according to the statement on page 43. 

This is no doubt the most practical mode of deter- 
mining the true value of the food, for when the carcass 
is cut up, the proportion of fat will be preserved in all 
the joints, whilst only the loose fat will be detached, and 
of the latter whatever is fit for food will be used as suet 
and fat in the preparation of other foods. 

When we refer to the several joints the estimation 
is less satisfactory, for it is possible to select some 
which may consist of lean meat almost exclusively, and 
others where the fat will represent one-fourth to one- 
sixth of the whole weight. This can be properly de- 
termined only by ascertaining the weight of fat and 
•lean in a given ration, or on the average of many rations, 
find is essential in all scientific calculations in the con- 
traction of dietaries. 



iS NITEOGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

It also fails wlien we consider tlie different degrees in 
which animals are fed, since a prize ox and an ill-fed 
ox differ, as already shown, in the proportion of fat 
and lean flesh, and a special determination of the fat 
and the lean would be necessary to give the required 
information ; bnt there is a condition of an animal in 
which it is usually offered for sale to the butcher which 
is tolerably uniform, and from such a fair practical 
average estimation may be made. 

The proportion of bone in the carcass of a moderately 
fed ox is from 10 to 15 per cent., and is the least in the 
round and thick flank, whilst it is the greatest in the 
head, shins, and legs (where it amounts to about 60 per 
cent.), and the aitch bone. Of the best pieces it is in 
the most moderate proportion in the loin, and next in 
the chine, or the thick ribs. 

Fat is found the most abundantly on the inside of the 
loin, which being hard, is usually detached and sold sepa- 
rately as suet, also on the thin ribs and the brisket ; and 
in over-fed animals it is laid up in considerable quantity 
on the outside of the whole carcass, except on the legs. 

The lower- joriced joints are those which are coarse in 
texture, as the neck and brisket, or which have much fat, 
as the thin ribs, oi are bony, as the head, legs, shins, and 
aitch bone. The parts which are preferred by the meat 
preserving companies are those thick in flesh, as the 
thick flank, round, loin, and thick ribs. 

The legs and shins are richer in gelatin than any 
other joint of the body, whilst the largest proportion of 
oily fat, or of fat having the least degree of consistence, 
is found in the flesh of the face. Hence, both of these 
parts are especially fitted for the preparation of soup. 

The loss of weight in cooking beef is less than of 
mutton, by reason of the greater solidity of the flesh 
and the smaller proportion of fat. 



BEEF AND VEAL. 49 

At the Leipsic Sonp Kitchen there were 9^ oz. of 
cooked meat left after boiling 1 lb. of fresh beef and 
bone, but the joint is not stated. The solid matter in 
the broth was about 27 per cent, of the weight of the 
raw meat and bone. In my own experiments the solid 
matter derived from 1 lb. of meat without bone, boiled 
in the usual way, was, per cent., 28*4 on lean beef, 57*6 
on fat beef, and 34-3 on mutton. 

The following may be accepted as the composition 
of one pound of roast and boiled beef respectively : — 

No. 18. 





Carbon 


Nitrogen 




grains 


grains 


Roast beef, say 


3,600 


262 


Boiled beef „ 


3,240 


215 



If, as is probable, the liquor in which the beef was 
boiled has been preserved, and will be eaten by those 
who consume the beef, there will be a further addition 
for each pound of meat of 490 grains of carbon and 18i 
grains of nitrogen, besides salts and other products, so 
that the total carbon and nitrogen obtained from one 
pound of beef will be practically the same whether the 
meat be roasted or boiled. 

If we select a piece of beef which is devoid of separated 
fat, the following will be the loss per lb., and the com- 
position of the boiled flesh and the broth respectively: — 

No. 19. 
1 lb. of fresh beef lost in boiling ... 30 per cent. 

Carbon Nitrogen 

grains grains 

1 lb. of boiled lean beef . . . 3,240 215 

Broth from do 360 47 

In my experiments {Phil. Trans. 1859), the effect of 
6 oz. of beef-steak reduced to 4^ oz. when cooked, was to 
cause a maximum increase of carbonic acid evolved in 
respiration of -7 grain per minute. 

Ten grains of raw lean beef, when burnt in the body, 



50 NITKOaENOUS ANIMAL TOODS. 

produce heat sufficient to raise 3*66 lbs. of water one 
degree Fah., which is equal to raising 2,829 lbs. one 
foot high. 

Dr. Beaumont proved that it required 2| to 3 hours 
for the digestion of beef. 

The amount of carbon and nitrogen in 1 lb. of raw 
beef, selected on the average of the carcass, is 2,401 
grains and 175 grains, but if the free hydrogen be 
reckoned as carbon, the quantity of carbon will be 
increased to 3,221 grains. 

Veal. 

Calves are killed for the market at various ages in 
different countries, and even in different parts of the 
same country. Thus, on the Continent of Europe they 
are six to nine months old, whilst in the country 
parts of England it is usual to kill them whilst still fed 
with milk, and often when not exceeding one month 
old. Since 1855 it has been unlawful in Boston, 
United States of America, to kill calves under one 
month old. 

The mode of killing has also an influence over the 
nutritive quality of the meat. In one, much of the blood 
is left in the flesh, whilst in that which consists of 
blanching the flesh by repeated bleedings, the blood with 
its valuable salts has been almost entirely extracted. 

It is thus evident that ihe character of the flesh varies 
very greatly in delicacy, nutritive value, and diges- 
tibility. 

Perhaps the most delicate food derived from the flesh 
of a mammal is that of a very young calf, well fed on 
new milk, and cooked by roasting ; but its nutritive 
qualities are much below those of beef. Veal is popu- 
larly known to be diflicult of digestion : a fact which I 
years ago showed to be due to the difficulty of masti- 



BEEF AND VEAL. 51 

eating it, not because the fibre is harder, but that it 
eludes the teeth ; but there can be little doubt that it is 
more easy of mastication when well roasted or broiled 
than when boiled, and when very young and well fed. 

It is not, however, a food which should be regarded 
otherwise than as a luxury, and the use of it should be 
much more limited than fashion now dictates. 

For the above-mentioned reason, it is very difficult 
to define the chemical composition of veal, and the 
following is only an approximation thereto. 

In 100 parts there are : — 

No. 20. 
Water 63. Nitrogenous 16-5. Eat 15-8. Salts 47. 

Ten grains of raw lean veal, when burnt in the body 
produce sufficient heat to raise 3*01 lbs. of water 1° F., 
which is equal to lifting 2,324 lbs. one foot high. 

The time required for the digestion of veal varies, but 
it is not much less than that of pork, and may extend 
to "^ hours or upwards. 

The bones of the calf at the early period of life con- 
tain little earthy matter, but yield a large proportion of 
gelatin and chondrin, whilst the flavour of the juices is 
very delicate, and almost entirely destitute of fat. 

Hence the reason for selecting calves' feet for the 
preparation of jelly, and the value of this kind of food 
to invalids. If, however, with so great a scarcity of 
animals, it should become as unfashionable as it is 
undesirable to kill calves for food, this product could be 
readily obtained from other sources in a state of suffi- 
cient purity. 

The sweetbread of the calf is the most expensive part 
of any ruminating animal ordinarily eaten by man — far 
more expensive tha.n its nutritive qualities and even 
its flavour warrant ; but in accordance with tlie fashion 



52 NITEOGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

of the day, it is in great request for dinners, and com- 
mands an extravagant price. At tlie same time it 
shoTild be added, that it is probably the most delicate in 
flavour of any meat with which we are acquainted, and 
is perhaps equally so whether boiled or fried. 



CHAPTER YI. 

MUTTON, LAMB, GOATS, AND CAMEL'S FLESH. 

Mutton. 

MtJTTON" is popularly regarded as a lighter food than 
beef, and it has doubtless a more delicate flavour, less 
red-blood juices, a looser texture, and a larger proportion 
of fat. Although an agreeable and valuable food for all 
classes, it is not so well fitted as beef to sustain great 
exertion, but is rather a food for those of sedentary and 
quiet habits, including women and the sick. It is said 
that Kean suited the kind of meat which he ate to the 
part which he was about to play, and selected mutton 
for lovers, beef for murderers, and pork for tyrants. 

The joint in a sheep of the best breed and in fair con- 
dition, which contains the least proportion of fat, is the 
leg, and next to that the shoulder, whilst the loin, 
neck, and breast have the largest proportion. It is 
most unusual to cut off any fat from the leg, and 
not usual to cut any from the shoidder before they 
are sold, but in all instances the hard fat from the 
inside of the loin is removed, and very frequently a 
part of that on the loin and neck is not eaten. 

The least proportion of bone to meat is found in the 
leg, and having regard to that fact as well as to the 
absence of excess of fat, this must be resfarded as the 



MUTTON, LAMB, GOAT'S, AND CAMEL'S FLESH. 53 

most useful joint in tlie slieep, and justifies the higher 
price demanded for it. The neck has the greatest pro- 
portion of bone, with a hirge j)i^c>portion of fat, and 
is not so economical as the price of it might indicate. 

The most solid meat is the leg, and the least the 
shoulder and breast. The latter has the further dis- 
advantage of having more fat than lean, whilst the 
lean is not easily masticated, and has but little flavour, 
but as the price at which it is sold is less than that cf 
any other joint of mutton, it is not without its advan- 
tage to the poorer classes. 

The liquor in which mutton is boiled has less nutri- 
tive value, except in the fat, than the broth of beef, but 
having a delicate flavour is preferred by many persons. 
It is, however, too rich in fat, unless a large portion 
of that substance be first removed. 

The loss on cooking mutton is generally believed to 
be greater than that on beef. At the Soup Kitchen in 
Leipsic only 9^ ounces of cooked meat remained after 
boiling one pound of fresh meat arrd bone, whilst the 
broth contained nearly one- third of the^^weight of the 
fresh meat. In my own experiments the loss on the 
knuckle of mutton was 30 per cent, on the meat, and 
14 per cent, on the bone ; or 4| ounces and 2^ ounces 
in the pound of raw meat and bone. The solid matter 
in the broth was 34 '3 per cent, of the raw weight. 

This varies much with the breed of the sheep. Thus, 
mountain sheep have the least fat, and the mutton loses 
the least in cooking, whilst the Leicestershire breed 
produces a very large proportion of fat, and causes 
the greatest loss in cooking. 

The mixed breed of the Lincolnshire and Leicester 
sheep is much approved in the midland counties, as 
increasing the proportion of lean flesh; whilst the 
South Down is preferred in London and neighbourhood, 



'o4> NITEOGENOUS ANIMAL POODS. 

as offering the least proportion of bone and fat, a.nd 
the finest flavour. 

The loss in cooking varies also with the food of the 
sheep, and is the least when thej are fed on cake or 
dry food. 

The following may be accepted as the average com- 
position of one pound of boiled mutton with the 
usual proportion of fat : — 

No. 21. 



Carbon 


Nitrogen 


grains 


grains 


3,175 


192 



If a piece of the leg of mutton be taken without any 
separated fat or bone, the composition will not differ 
much from that of boiled lean beef, but will probably 
have a somewhat larger proportion of nitrogen. 

The composition of an average sample of raw mutton 
is as folloAvs per cent. : — 

Carbon 41*45, and with free hydrogen reckoned as 
carbon 55*18, nitrogen 2*0, besides oxygen and hydrogen 
in proportions to form water. 

The quantity of carbon and nitrogen in one pound of 
raw mutton is 2,900 and 140 grains, but if the free 
hydrogen be reckoned as carbon it will increase the 
quantity of carbon to 4,108 grains per pound. 

The time required for the digestion of mutton is 
three to three and a quarter hours. 

Braxy Mutton. 

The frequent use of braxy mutton in the northern parts 
of Scotland renders it desirable that reference should be 
made to it, since it is the only instance in which the 
habits of our fellow countrymen tolerate the con- 
sumption of the flesh of an animal which has died a 
natural death. 



MUTTON, LAMB, GOATS, AND CAMEL'S FLESH. 55 

The eating of sucli flesh was forbidden to the Jews. 
Thus in Leviticus, c. xxii. v. 8 : * That which dieth of 
itself, he shall not eat.' In Leviticus, c. vii. v. 24 : 
' And the fat of the beast that dieth of itself may be 
used in any other use, but ye shall in no wise eat of it.' 
But it is not stated that such food would be unwhole- 
some, and it is added in Deuteronomy, c. xiv. v. 21, that 
one not being a Jew might eat it : ' Ye shall not eat of 
anything that dieth of itself; thou shall give it unto 
the stranger that is within thy gates, that he may eat 
it, or thou mayest sell it unto an alien.^ It was pro- 
bably associated with the prohibition of the eating of 
blood, for it is added in Leviticus, c. xxii. v. 8, ' he 
shall not eat to defile himself therewith,' and in other 
passages the like prohibition is directed against eating 
an animal which has been torn by wild beasts. 

There is no doubt a prevalent objection to eating the 
flesh of animals which have died naturally, and in con- 
sequence much flesh is lost as food, but such is not 
necessarily unwholesome, or other than good food. So 
far as it is well grounded it is based upon the probability 
of the animal having died of disease, which might have 
injuriously affected the flesh, and rendered it either less 
valuable as food, or likely to induce disease if eaten as 
food. Whilst there is a prima facie objection to such 
food on this ground, it is clear that each case should be 
considered separately, and the flesh tested on its own 
appearance and merits. When flesh is unnaturally light 
or dark in colour, unusually soft and watery, and has 
evident marks of disease, it should be rejected ; but mere 
emaciation of an animal from want of feeding does not 
make the flesh unwholesome. 

The flesh of animals which have died naturally is 
very commonly eaten by the low caste tribes of India, 
as, for example, the Bowrees, Swalghur, and Kucker 
4 • 



50 NITEOGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

castes of Barrackpore, and tlie Chhura caste of Googaira, 
and bj some African nations. 

The flocks of sheep which constitute an important 
part of the property of the Scotch farmers are liable 
to 'braxy,' which is said by some to be a disease 
of the brain known as the staggers in horses, and 
by others an inflammation of the lungs. Whatever 
may be the cause of death, the duration of the dis- 
ease is very short, so that there is a presumption that 
the general structures of the body have not been 
tainted by it, and that the disease has been limited 
to the vital organs immediately affected. The dura- 
tion of the disease is believed to be about twenty-four 
hours ; but during my enquiries into the dietary of the 
Hiofhlanders ,' I had reason to believe that neither the 
nature nor the duration of the disease is very carefully 
enquired into, and that a sheep found dead, without 
marked evidence of long continued disease, is eaten. 

This food enters into the contract between the farmer 
and his shepherd, so that, in addition to the advantages 
of house, oatmeal, cowfeed, and money, he becomes en- 
titled to a given number of braxy sheep yearly. It is 
also a part of the ordinary food of the farmer in those 
localities, and also of his men, whether fed singly or on 
the bothy system. 

I made the most careful enquiries, but could not learn 
that any disease or disorder of the human system had 
been known to follow the use of this food, and it is 
almost universally believed to be good in flavour and 
wholesome in quality. 

From necessity the shepherd salts the meat, so that 
it may be kept fit for use, and the diseased parts are 
cut away before the salting process is efi'ected. 

' Sixth Report of the Medical Officer of the Privy Council. 



MUTTON, LAMB, GOAT'S, AND CAMEL'S FLESH. 57 

Assuming that the disease was of short duration, and 
of the kind named, it may be inferred that the chemical 
and nutritive qualities will be the same as those of a 
healthy sheep at the same stage of feeding, but it does 
not follow that the animal when dying was in a state fit 
for the market. This, however, would tend to increase 
the proportion of nitrogen, and to lessen the quantity 
of carbonaceous elements as the lean flesh predominated. 

Lamb. 

Lamb varies in its nutritive, chemical and digestible 
qualities in proportion to its age, as well as in those 
peculiar to its breed and feeding. 

The meat is deficient in strength, as compared with 
mutton, however it may excel it in delicacy of flavour, 
and it possesses a larger proportion of water, and a less 
proportion of nitrogenous matter. Hence it is really 
a luxury; and having regard to the deficient supply 
of meat, its use should be much more limited. The fry 
of this animal, including the sweetbread, is also some- 
what of a luxury. The time required for its digestion 
is less than that of the flesh of a mature sheep, viz., 
two and a half hours. 

Goat's Flesh. 

Goat's flesh is very commonly eaten in Switzerland 
and other mountainous regions of the world. Li its 
general characters it resembles mutton, but is harder 
and tougher and has a stronger flavour, so that it 
is not preferred to it. It is, however, much more 
nutritious than mutton, so far as nitrogenous elements 
are concerned, but is inferior in carbonaceous, for the 
animal does not fatten to so great a degree as the 
sheep. It must be regarded as a stronger food than 
mutton. 



58 NITKOGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

The flesh of the kid is more esteemed than that of 
the goat, both in Europe and India, as it was in 
Arabia 3,600 years ago, when Jacob made a savoury 
dish for his father Isaac, and it has a flavour not very 
unlike that of venison. 

Camel's Flesh. 

The flesh of the camel is not unfrequently eaten in 
the countries where the animal is produced, but it was 
forbidden to the Jews — ' The camel, because he cheweth 
the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean to 
you,' Lev. c. xii. v. 4. It is usually lean and hard, so 
that, whilst it offers a large proportion of nitrogenous 
matter and is good food, it is not so agreeable as a 
well'fed ox. In estimating its nutritive qualities, we 
may take those of lean beef as already described. 



CHAPTEE YII. 

rOBK, SUCKING FIG, BACON, AND WILD PIG. 

Pork. 

PoEK is a food which was forbidden to the Jews (' and 
the swine although he divide the hoof and be cloven- 
footed, yet he cheweth not the cud ; he is unclean to you,' 
Lev. c. xi. V. 7), and was not eaten by many African 
and Asiatic nations, but the force of this prohibition 
and objection is sensibly diminishing even amongst the 
Jews, so that the use of this food is more general over 
nearly the whole world. Indeed, in certain parts of this 
country, as Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and Bed- 
fordshire it is eaten by no inconsiderable proportion of 



PORK, SUCKING PIG, J^ACON, AND WILD PIG. 59 

the inhabitants in preference to other kinds of meat : a 
fact due partly to taste, but chiefly perhaps to the 
universal habit among the peasantry of feeding pigs, 
which has descended from Saxon times. Moreover, 
there is a convenience in the use of it, which does not 
exist with regard to beef and mutton, for in such 
localities the pork is always pickled and kept ready for 
use without the trouble of going to the butcher, or when 
money could not be spared for the x)ur chase of meat. 

The preference for pork is not, however, restricted to 
the old, but is found in all new countries, and may be 
due chiefly to the ease with which pigs are bred and 
reared, and the meat preserved, whilst there is great 
difiiculty in obtaining a sufficient number of persons, 
in a thinly populated country or a small village, to eat 
a sheep or an ox whilst the meat is fresh. This I found 
in my journey through the western and south-western 
States of America, and particularly in Texas, where hog 
and hominy was the only food of that class which could 
be ordinarily obtained. 

Pork diflers from beef and mutton, not in flavour 
only, but in the larger proportion of fat to lean flesh. 
This is due both to the nature of the animal in its 
tendency to store up fat, and to the habit of so feeding 
and treating it that this tendency may be fully de- 
veloped. This is strikingly shown by contrasting the 
proportion of food which the pig stores up within its 
body as compared with the sheep or the ox during the 
process of fattening for the market, as appears in the 
following table : — 

No. 22. 

Per Cent. Stored np 
In the food Pig Sheep Oxen 

Of 100 Nitrogenous . . . 13-5 4-2 4-1 

„ 100 Carbonaceous . . . 18-5 9-4 7-2 

„ 100 Mineral . . .7-3 3-1 1-9 



GO NITROGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

The pig thus stores up in its body three times more 
of its food than the ox, and by so much is it more 
cheaply and quickly grown and fattened, but in its 
wild state or in the inferior breeds of semi-domesticated 
pigs (such as still form the stock of a backwood settler, 
and until recent years the property of the cottagers in 
this country), which have opportunity to run about and 
in the main find their own food, this tendency is 
greatly diminished, and the proportion of lean to fat is 
much greater. 

The smallest proportion of fat is found in the leg and 
the largest in the belly and face, but so great is the 
amount of it which is laid up on the outside of the 
animal that it could not be eaten in its fresh state, but 
must be cut off and salted, so as to become bacon, or 
cut up with the lean meat and pickled before it 
is used. 

It is, therefore, exceedingly difficult to ascertain the 
fair average composition of the pork which is actually 
eaten, and it can be only approximately arrived at 
by taking the whole carcass and estimating it as 
food to be consumed by a number of people. On this 
basis, the average composition of 1 lb. of fresh pork 
will be 4,200 grains of carbon and 79 grains of nitrogen, 
but if the free hydrogen be reckoned as carbon, the 
total quantity of carbon will be 5,809 grains. It is, 
however, clear that this must represent too much carbon 
and too little nitrogen ; or, in other words, too much 
fat and too little lean for such pigs as are eaten alto- 
gether as pork. 

If, however, we take the leg, and exclude all separate 
fat, the composition v/ill be nearly that of lean beef 
already described, or of albumen which is more closely 
allied to it than the difference in appearance in- 
dicates. 



PORK, SUCKING PIG, BACON, AND WILD PIG. Gl 

Pork having so very large a proportion of fat, cannot 
be regarded as equal to beef or mutton in nourishing 
the system of those who make much muscular exertion. 
Moreover, there is a peculiarity about pork by which it 
is believed to be less digestible than other kinds of 
flesh, and it appears to me that this is due to the 
greater hardness of the muscular fibre, by which the 
mastication of it is rendered so difficult that much 
of it is swallowed in pieces too large for immediate 
solution in the juices of the stomach. This attends 
the eating of pork by all persons, but particularly by 
those who habitually masticate quickly, or who have 
defective powers of mastication, or who are careless in 
performing the act of 'mastication — classes embracing 
the old and the young, and no inconsiderable proportion 
of those of intermediate ages. 

There is nothing known as to the chemical com- 
position of this food, which accounts for this undesirable 
quality, and the universal belief in its existence. 

The experience of the Leipsic Soup Kitchen on the 
solubility of pork in water affords a striking illustration 
of these facts, and shows how great is the difference be- 
tween that flesh and beef and mutton, for whilst the solid 
matters in the broth of beef and mutton Avere 27 and 
33 per cent., those from pork were not 19 per cent. 
The proportion of the cooked meat on 1 lb. of raw meat 
and bone was over 1 2 ozs., or nearly ^ more than with 
beef or mutton. 

It is stated by Sir A. Brady, that the loss on cooking 
American pork is 50 per cent., whilst on Dutch and 
Irish pork it is from 25 to 30 per cent. ; the difference 
being due to the nature of the food of the animal. 

Dr. Beaumont found, that a piece of roasted pork 
required five and a quarter hours for its digestion ; but 
tjie time varies materially with the proportion of fat and 



(32 NITEOGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

lean, and the age, breedin'g, and condition of the pig. 
Y'onng pickled pork will probably be digested in about 
three hours. 

In addition to the convenience of pickling this food, 
as already mentioned, there can be no doubt that the 
use of the salted part of it, whether as ham or bacon, 
is convenient and agreeable in a high degree, and if 
it were unattainable its loss would probably be more 
widely and deeply felt than that of any other single 
food. It is a luxury to the rich man, whilst to the poor 
man and his children it is an agreeable necessary which 
cannot be universally supplanted by fresh meat until 
the pecuniary means at their command are much greater 
than at present. 

There is, however, a greater danger in the use of pork 
than of any other kind of meat, since, so far as is known, 
it is more frequently diseased, and the nature of the 
disease is such as to be very injurious to man. Thus 
measly pork — a disease consisting of cystocerci as large 
as hemp seed — is known to have produced fatal results 
to many of those who have incautiously eaten it, 
and although the characteristics of the disease may 
be recognised by those who understand it, they are 
neither known nor observed by the great majority of 
the poorer classes. Further, the terrible pest of the 
small worm, called the Trichina s].nralis, is much more 
frequent in this than in others kind of flesh in its un- 
cooked state, and the power which the creature has to 
penetrate the tissues of the body of those who eat it 
has been vividly described by German and American 
writers. 

Many instances of this terrible disease, isolated or in 
numbers, have now been recorded and particularly in 
Germany. Of 103 healthy people who ate diseased 
pork, which had been made into sausage meat, at 



POEK, SUCKING PIG, BACON, AND WILD PIG. G3 

Helstadt, in Prussia, 20 died within a month. In 
Massachusetts a family was thus poisoned, with sym- 
ptoms of pain and swelling in the eyes, stomach, and 
bowels, and also in the limbs, which became rigid 
and could not be moved without giving excruciating 
suffering. There was also vomiting, diarrhoea, and 
profuse perspiration. In all the fatal cases the worm was 
found to have penetrated the whole muscular system, 
and upwards of 50,000 were computed to exist* on a 
square inch. 

This diseased state may not be evident to the 
naked eye, so that as a precaution all pork should be 
well cooked. The instances of the disease occurred 
chiefly after eating uncooked sausages or uncooked ham 
— a habit not confined to Germany. 

Yet formidable as this objection may appear, it is of 
very little weight, when we consider it on the great 
numbers of pork consumers, since the knowu instances 
of injury are infinitesimally few. 

There is a very large importation of pickled pork into 
this country, which is usually divided into three classes, 
or qualities, known as mess, prime, and cargo. The 
'mess' quality consists altogether of sides, the 'prime ' 
of o shoulders (without feet) and other joints, and the 
' cargo ' of 30 lbs. of head and four shoulders and 
other joints in each barrel. 

The importance of this article of commerce may bo 
the best estimated by the trade which is carried on with 
America, and the magnitude of the establishments de- 
voted to the killing and curing of the flesh. 

Sucking Pig. 

Sucking pig is one of the choicest foods, and has a 
delicacy and richness of flavour which is perhaps un- 
surpassed. Charles Lamb wrote of it as follows : 



64 NITKOGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

' Of all the delicacies in the whole mundus edibilis, 
I will maintain it to be the most delicate — princeps 
obsonium.' But, although he may be quite correct, 
this food is not one of the established delicacies of 
the dinner-table of the rich, and it is, perhaps, now 
more commonly eaten by the middle and labouring 
classes on festive occasions. The flesh of the very 
young pig has still some of the characteristics of the 
oldei* animal, and although so easily separated when 
cooked, is not easily masticated, and is often swal- 
lowed in pieces too large for digestion. The fat is far 
more delicate than that of an adult pig. This is 
essentially a luxury, since its nutritive value is small in 
proportion to the price paid for it, and it should be as 
essentially the rich man's food. The time required for its 
digestion is the same as for lamb, viz., two and a half 
hours. 

Bacon. 

This term is applied to the sides of the pig which 
have been prepared by the removal of some of the lean 
flesh and ribs, and preserved by means of salt and salt- 
petre. It is usual to rub the saline mixture into every 
part of the pork and to repeat the process in a modified 
degree regularly for about three weeks, during which 
time the flesh is kept in a cool place, and afterwards it is 
removed and dried. Hence the first eftect is to abstract 
a certain portion of the juices of the flesh, which with 
the moistened salt forms a pickle which may be applied 
by the hand from time to time; but during the whole 
of this part of the process the flesh is not only moist 
but wet, and has rather increased than decreased in 
weight. The second action is to dry the flitch of bacon, 
with or without wood smoke, by which it is reduced in 
weight. 

The first process is solely for the purpose of pre- 



PORK, SUCKING PIG, BACON, AND WILD PIG. 65 

venting decomposition of the flesh, and it is requisite 
that it be begun very soon after the death of the animal, 
and be carried into every part of the flitch. If too long 
continued the lean flesh will shrink unduly and become 
hard, and if it be insufficient, the subsequent drying will 
allow the process of decomposition to begin. The second 
process is eflected to render the flesh more portable and 
convenient to the consumer, and to give a difi'erent 
flavour to the food. As fresh meat is not attainable in 
a large part of the country more frequently than once 
a week, it is most convenient to the poor to have food 
in the house which may be used at any time, and which 
also may have been obtained by previous savings in 
anticipation of a period when poverty might be more 
urgent and ready money scarcely attainable. More- 
over, dried bacon divides itself during the process of 
cooking into two parts, of which the labourer and 
his wife may have the solid and the children the 
liquid part, and thus both be in a degree pleased, if not 
satisfied. So far, it may be said, that bacon is the 
poor man's food, having a value to the masses which is 
appreciated in proportion to their poverty, and it is a 
duty to ofier every facility for its production in the 
homes of the poor. 

It is also the rich man's food, for the flavour, which is 
naturally or artificially acquired by drying, is highly 
prized, and although it may not be taken as a necessary 
by the rich, it is in universal request as a luxury. 
When the drying process has been continued too long 
the lean part of the bacon becomes hard and does not 
soften ]}y cooking, whilst the fat becomes rancid, and is 
no longer a luxury to the rich or easily digestible by the 
poor. 

Commerce has of late years sought the aid of art m 
effecting these processes with the greatest rapidity, so 



(JO NITKOGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

that the food may be ready for the market with the 
least delay. It is now usual to place the prepared fiitcb 
in a fluid pickle, and after a certain time to dry it by 
artificial heat, so that the whole process occupies three 
to six weeks as against three months under the old 
mode of procedure. There is, however, some risk lest 
the preserving process should not be complete, and par- 
ticularly in the thicker parts, as the shoulder and ham, 
or where there are folds in the flesh, and also that the 
bacon should after drying retain an undue amount of 
moisture. The practical effect has been to render the 
flavour of the bacon milder and more delicate, and to 
cause it to retain a larger amount of moisture, which 
so far lessens the proportion of nutritious matber in a 
given weight. Moreover, as the artificial mode of 
drying cannot be carried on in every cottage, the pork 
is removed to kilns properly constructed, and a mono- 
poly has thus been created, by which the price has of 
late years been unduly increased. 

A very large quantity of bacon is imj)orted into this 
country from America and Ireland, and a small portion 
from Strasburg and Hamburg, the latter liaving acquired 
a peculiar flavour by being smoked. That from America 
is. of inferior quality, owing to the defective system of 
feeding, and particularly to the habit of allowing the 
pigs to feed on acorns, by which the fat is less solid 
and more oily, and shrinks on being boiled. 

The finest bacon in our market is the Wiltshire and 
Cumberland, but some of the Irish is nearly equal to it. 

The nutritive value of bacon is within certain limits 
a varying quantity as the two processes are more or less 
prolonged, but that of wet bacon is the more stable of 
the two. Newly dried bacon will have an excess and 
old bacon a defect of water, as compared with the usual 
standard. Bacon from which much lean meat has been 



rORK, SUCKING PIG, BACON, AND WILD PIG. 67 

removed-, or which was obtained from a well fattened 
pig, will leave a less proportion of nitrogenous matter. 

The following is the approximate composition of 
green (or wet) bacon and dried bacon in 100 parts : — 







No. 23. 






Green bacon . 


. Water 2i 


Nitrogenous 7*1 


Pat 66-8 


Salts 2-1 


Dried bacon . 


„ 15 


8-8 


,, 733 


„ 2-9 



There are the following quantities of carbon and 
nitrogen in a pound of an average specimen of dried 
bacon : — 

No. 24. 
Carbon 4,340 grains Nitrogen 79 grains 

But if the free hydrogen be reckoned as carbon the total 
quantity of the latter will be 6,006 grains in the pound. 
The digestibility of bacon varies with its dryness and 
cooking, but it may be assumed that the time required 
will be less than that of fresh pork. From its lar^e pro- 
portion of fat, and from the ease with which it may be 
masticated, it may be inferred that the process will be 
usually accomplished in less than three hours, and at 
any rate that it is not less digestible than fresh beef or 
mutton. 

The Wild Pig. 

The pig in its wild state is still found in France and 
other parts of continental Europe, in India, Ceylon, 
Zanzibar, and nearly all the great eastern and northern 
countries of the world. 

Its flesh, as compared with that of the domestic pig, is 
harder, tougher, and stronger flavoured, and would not 
be preferred to it. The proportion of gelatinous matter 
is greater, as that of fatty matter is less than in the 
flesh of the domestic pig, so that scouse made from the 
gelatinous parts of the animal, as the ears and face, is 
stiffer and harder than that from the domestic pig. 



68 NITROGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

The cause of these difiPerences is that of the habits, 
breed, and food of the two classes. 

The boar's head has been for ages in repute in the 
halls of the great for its flavour when roasted and 
stuffed with nutritious and appetising compounds. It 
was anciently the first dish on Christmas-day, and was 
carried to the principal table with great solemnity. In 
the ' Collection of Christmas Carols,' published in 1521 
by Wynkin de Worde, is ' A Carol bryngyn in the Bore's 
Head.' This ceremony is still performed at Queen's 
College, Oxford, and the following ditty sung : — ■ 

The boar's head in liand bear I, 
Bedecked wit]i bays and rosemary ; 
And I pray you my masters be merry, 
Quot estis in cojivivio. 

The boar's head, as I understand, 
Is the bravest dish in all the land ; 
, When thus bedecked with a gay garland, 

Let us servire cantico. 

Our steward hath provided this 
In honour of the King of Bliss, 
Which on this day to be served is 
In Beginensi Atrio. 

Refrain after each verse ; — 

Caput apri defero 
Reddens laudcs Domino. 

One of the most sumptuous dishes which have been 
handed down to us, is that of roasted wild pig', which 
was in use in the Norman and Early English periods of 
our history.. The following recipe is of the fourteenth 
century : — 

' COK A GsEES (Cock and Wild Pig). 

' Take and make the self fars ; bat do thereto pyn and sag. 
Take an hole raosted cok, pulle h^'- (in pieces) and bylde (cast) 



VARIOUS WILD ANIMALS AND THE HORSE AND ASS. 69 

hym al togg'd, saue (save) the legg. Take a pigg and hilde 
(skin) hy fro the mydd' doiiward, fjlle hi ful of the fars and 
sowe hy fast toged'. Do hy in a panne and seethe hy wel, and 
when thei bene isode, do he on a spyt and rost it wele. Colo 
it w^ zolkes of ayren (eggs) and safron. Lay therou foyles 
(leaves) of gold and of silu', and sue hit forth.' 

The so-called boar's head of the present day is 
usually that of an animal obtained with less prowess 
and delay than that of the wild boar of the middle 



CHAPTER YIII. 

VARIOUS WILD ANIMALS AND THE HORSE AND ASS. 

As a general expression, it may be stated that the 
points of contrast between the flesh of wild animals and 
that of domesticated and artificially fed animals are the 
greater hardness and solidity of the flesh, the greater 
proportion of solid fibre to juices, the less proportion of 
water and fat in the j uices, and the greater proportion 
of lean to fat. Hence it follows that under the same 
circumstances the mastication of the flesh of wild animals 
is less easy, the flavour more concentrated and less 
luscious, and the proportion of nitrogenous or flesh- 
forming compounds greater. They are therefore strong- 
foods, requiring good powers of mastication and diges- 
tion, and if well digested, are highly nutritious. Their 
intensity of flavour is also a recommendation to those 
who are satiated with ordinary food and to the con- 
valescent who seek something to stimulate defective 
appetite or to satisfy a sudden desire. 

But in all these particulars there is a diff'erence with 



70 NITROaENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

the habits of the animal. Deer kept in a park where 
they take but little exercise and are fed in the winter 
by the aid of man, approach in character the domesti- 
cated animal, . whilst the sheep which lives on moun- 
tains and travels far and wide to procure food will 
approach the wild animpJs in the character of its flesh 
if it be allowed to live until it is five years old or 
upwards. Thus, much of the flesh of park deer when 
eaten soon after the death of the animal difl'ers little 
from Highland mutton, whilst that of the true mountain 
sheep has a flavour resembling that of park deer, and 
in dryness after cooking and in the absence of fat, 
differs extremely from the meat of a well-fed South 
Down sheep. 

In treating venison it has been found necessary to 
allow it to hang for a considerable period in order to 
separate the bundles of fleshy fibres ; and when cooked, 
to add gravies, condiments, and sweets, so as to give a 
quality to the flavour, which it naturally lacks, and it 
may be added that no part of the animal is cooked by 
being boiled. 

Two recipes of the year 1381, one of which is to 
prevent venison from becoming tainted, and the other 
to remove the taint, cannot be without interest : — 

' For to kepe Venison fro Restyng. 

' Tak Venison wan yt ys newe and cuver it hastely wy th Fern 
that no wynd may come thereto, and wan thou has ycuver yt 
led yt horn and do yt in a soler that sonne ne wynd may come 
ther'to and dimembr' it and do yt in a clene water and lef yt 
ther' half a day and after do yt up on herdeles for to drie, 
and wan yt ys drye tak salt and do after thy venison axit and 
do yt boyle in water that yt be so salt als water of the see 
and moche more and after lat the water be cold that it be 
thynne and thanne do thy Venisoii in the water and lat vt 
be therein thre daies and thre nyzt, and after tak yt owt of 



VARIOUS WILD ANIMALS AND THE HORSE AND ASS. 71 

the water and salt it wyth drie salt ryzt wel in a barel and 
wan thy barel ys ful cuver it hastely that sunne ne wynd 
come thereto. 

' For to do away Resttng of Venison. 

' Tak the venison that ys rest and do yt in cold water, and 
after mak an hole in the herthe and lat yt be thereyn thre 
dayes and thre nyzt, and after tak yt up and spot it wel wyth 
gret salt of peite (saltpetre) there were the restyng is, and 
after lat yt hange in reyn water al nyzt or mor'.' 

The composition of venison differs from that of beef 
and mutton in that there is a large proportion of nitro- 
genous and a less proportion of carbonaceous matter and 
less water. 

Dr. Beaumont found that broiled venison steak was 
digested in one and a half hour, but I cannot think 
that that represents the true period of chymification. It 
is probably nearly the same as mutton. 

Bison and other Wild Animals. 

The Bison may be regarded as the representative of 
the ox in its wild state, and might equally well be used 
for food. The flesh is, however, tough, hard, and dark 
in colour, and strong in flavour, so that it would not be 
preferred to that of the domesticated ox, but its fulness 
of flavour when in good condition makes certain parts 
of the animal very acceptable if not luxurious to the 
hunter. The parts usually selected are the hump and 
tongue, and it is probable that if they could be imported 
into this country at the price of ordinary meat, they 
would be reckoned amongst our luxuries. 

The relative proportions of fat and lean as regards 
the bison and the domestic ox vary with the con- 
dition of the animals, and therefore, as respects the wild 
animal, with the season of the year ; but speaking gene- 



72 NITEOGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

rally, tlie wild animal yields a larger proportion of 
nitrogenous matters, and particularly of gelatin, and is 
therefore the stronger food. 

The Eland was introduced into this country by a 
former Earl of Derby, with a view to test its capability 
to compete with the ox as a meat-producing animal, but 
the experiment failed on the ground of economy. 

The Antelope is used as food, but the flesh of some 
species, as the Antelope 8altiana has a smoky flavour 
like that of a rat. 

The Kangaroo, Zebra, Spring Boc, and many other 
laro-e herbaceous and gramnivorous animals are eaten as 
food in Africa and Australia when obtained by hunting. 
The flesh of the Kangaroo {Macrohus Brunnii) is now 
imported from Australia, as is also the very excellent 
soup prepared from the tail. It has the character of the 
flesh of wild animals, but probably a larger proportion 
of fat. 

The Dog, Cat, Eat, Fox, Wolf, Leopard, Jackal and 
other carnivorous animals are eaten by the low caste 
inhabitants of India and other countries. 

The Horse and Ass. 

The flesh of the horse and the ass has been long 
known to be good and nutritious food, and in quality it 
occupies a place rather among wild than domesticated 
animals. The objection to its use does not rest upon 
either chemical or physical grounds, for the carcass has 
a larger proportion of nitrogenous material than the 
welhfed ox, and the mastication of it is not more dif- 
ficult than that of fresh venison or an ill-fed ox. There 
is not the richness and fulness of flavour which belongs 
to good beef, and in its preparation for the table 
demands the same additions as those required by 
venison. 



VAEIOUS WILD ANIMALS AND THE HORSE AND ASS. 73 

Several reasons have no doubt prevented the general 
use of horseflesh. 1st. The sentiment with which 
the horse is regardetl as a useful, intelligent, high- 
spirited and so-called noble animal, by which it is 
esteemed a degradation to feed it and fatten it for the 
table. 2nd. The necessity which exists for its use as a 
living creature — a necessity which increases and cannot 
be supplied by any other animal. 3rd. Its high price 
as compared with that of oxen and cows which are 
reared for feeding only. 4th. The toughness of the 
flesh, a,nd the use as food for the lower animals of 
such horses as are worn out by work and then killed. 
It would require a far greater necessity for the supply 
of meat than any which has occurred in our country for 
ages past, to overcome the first, second, and fourth 
objections, but the value of the third has greatly 
diminished with the present high price of meat. 

Having regard to the greater cost and risk of pro- 
duction of the horse than the ox, it is not probable that 
there will ever be so great an excess in the supply of 
horses as to make the rearing of them for the butcher 
a commercial success at even the present price of meat, 
and it seems impossible that it could ever successfully 
compete with the production of oxen. 

Hence the introduction of this flesh as a food must be 
that of the worn out and disused horses, and a rigid 
system of supervision and examination of the animal 
before death and of the flesh after death would be 
necessary to prevent the occurrence of disease from its 
use. Such food could not, moreover, attract the rich 
man, and if used at all, it would be by the poorest 
classes — by those who in this country strongly object to 
eat anything which is regarded as of inferior quality 
or which is commonly rejected by their richer fellow 
citizens. It is, therefore, really useless to bring the 



74 NITEOGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

subject before the public attention of this conntiy, 
and horse flesh must be reserved for such terrible 
circumstances as those which have so recently led to 
its use on a large scale in Paris. 

The composition of this kind of flesh may be reckoned 
as that of lean beef. 

The following is the menu of the horse-flesh dinner 
which was eaten at the Langham Hotel, on February 6, 
1868 :— 

Potages. 

Consomm^ de cheval. Puree de destrier. 

Amontillado. 

Poissons. 

Saumon a la sauce arabe. Filets de Soles a I'huile hippophagique. 
Vin du Ehin. 

Hors-d'cetivres. 
Terrines de Foie maigre clieralines. Saucissons de cheral aux pistaches 
syriaques. 

Xer^s. 

Beleves. 
Filet de Pegase roti aux pomrnes de terre a la creme. Dinde aux 
chataignes. Aloyau de cheval farci a la centaure et aux choux de 
Bruxelles. Culotte de cheval braisee aux chevaux-de-frise. 
Champagne sec. 

Pjnt7'ees. 
Petits pates a la Moelle Bucephale. Kromeskys a la Gladiateur. Poulets 
garnis a rhippogriffe. Langues de cheval a la Troyenne. 
Chateau Perayne. 

Potis. 
Canards sauvages. Pluviers. 
Volney. 
Mayonnaises de Homard a I'huile de Rossinante. Petits pois a la fran9aisp. 
Choux-fleurs a\i parmesan. 

E7itremets. 
Gelee de pieds de cheval au marasquin. Zephirs sautes a Thuile 
ehevaleresque. Gdteau veterinaire a la Ducroix. Feuillantines aux 
pommes des Hesperides. Saint-P^ray. 



OFFAL. 75 

Glaces. 

Crfemo aux trufFes. Sorbets contre-prejug^s. 

Liqueurs. 

Dessert. 

VIbs fins de Bordeaux. Madera. Cafe. 

Buffet. 

Collared liorse-head. Baron of horse. Boiled withers. 



CHAPTER IX. 

OFFAL. 



The offal of animals consists of the skin, feet, tail, 
horns, head, and tongue ; of the lungs, liver, spleen, 
omentum, pancreas, and heart, which constitute the 
pluck or the fry, and the intestines and other internal 
organs. . 

It was in daily use among our Saxon and early English 
ancestors, for pigs' feet and head, calves' feet, sheep's 
trotters, the maw or paunch, and intestines of the wild 
and domestic pig and other animals and the blood, enter 
into the recipes of the fourteenth century. 

The proportion per cent, of the weight of the offal to 
that of the carcass varies with each kind of animal, as 
shown in the following table : — 

No. 25. 





Carcass 


Offal 


Store oxen . 


59-3 


38-9 


Fat oxen 


69-8 


38-5 


Fat heifers . 


bb-Q 


41-3 


Fat calves 


63-1 


33-5 


Store sheep . 


534 


45-6 


Half-fat sheep 


59 


40-5 


Very fat sheep 


64-1 


35-8 


Store pigs 


79-3 


18-8 


Fat pigs 


83-4 


161 



Thus it appears that generally one-third of the weight 
i)f animals is t>ffal, and is not sold as meat, and in 



76 NITROGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

certain animals the oiFal approaches to the same weight 
as that of the carcass. The greatest proportion is 
found in sheep, and the least in pigs, and the extreme 
may be one-half and one-sixth of the whole weight of 
the animal. 

It must not, however, be inferred that the offal is 
valueless as food, or that it should be otherwise than 
carefully consumed, since it has much nutritive value, 
although not so much as would induce the purchaser 
to give the price of meat for it. Its flavour is also 
peculiar and not equal to that of meat, so that for 
several reasons it is rather the poor than the rich man's 
food. 

If we take the whole offal of various classes of 
animals which are used as food, we find that the pro- 
portion of nitrogenous compounds in it is greater 
than that of the carcass, viz. 17*2 per cent^ against 
13*5 per cent., whilst that of fat is less, viz., 21 per 
cent, against 34*4 per cent. The percentage of salts 
is about equal in each of the two divisions of the animal, 
that is to say, 3-7 per cent, in the carcass and 3 per 
cent, in the offal. 

It must not, however, be assumed that the whole of 
this is available food for man, and it must be added 
that the nitrogenous part is in a less nutritious form 
than in flesh, since it consists largely of gelatin and 
chondrin. 

The skin, so far as it is useful as food, is consumed 
in the form of gelatin, and is probably the greatest 
source of that article. 

The tongue of all animals used as food is in request, and 
is regarded as a delicacy. That of the ox is frequently 
salted or pickled until it assumes a red colour on being- 
boiled. It is sometimes dried, and must afterwards be 
soaked well in water before it is boiled j or it is taken 



OFFAL. 77 

direct out of the pickle and may be at once washed and 
boiled. The muscular part of the tongue has a rich and 
somewhat luscious flavour, whilst the fat which lies 
under the tongue is very agreeable. Both fat and lean 
may be eaten when either hot or cold with equal grati- 
fication. 

A large trade is established between Russia, South 
America and England in the import of dried and smoked 
tongues, which are commonly no doubt those of the ox 
or cow, and not unfrequently of the horse. From their 
preparation more than from their other qualities they 
are agreeable foods when well soaked and boiled and 
eaten cold. The tongues of reindeer aad probably of 
other animals are also imported and eaten as a relish. 

The head is a somewhat favourite dish. That of the 
sheep is boiled or grilled, and particularly in Scotland 
and amongst the poorest classes. Calves' head is more 
especially the food of the richer classes, and is a very 
delicate and agreeable dish when boiled and properly 
served. In both cases it may be sold without the skin, 
or the skin may be left on and the hair scraped off. 

Ox head is used both for the preparation of soup and 
as ordinary meat. It consists of about 30 per cent, of 
meat which contains much oil, and some solid fat, and 
produces a rich and nutritious soup. It is a convenient 
dish for the poor man's wife, since it enables her to make 
good and cheap soup for the children, whilst the adults 
eat the solid meat. 

The proportion of meat to bone is much greater in the 
pig's head than in the heads of other animals, since 
the pig lays up much fat about the jaws. Instead of 
being 30 per cent, as in the ox, it is 60 to 70 per 
cent. 

There is less oil but more solid fat than in the head of 
the ox, so that it is not so well fitted for the preparation 



78 NITROGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS 

of soup, yet it is a very good addition to beef or ox 
heads for that purpose, and supplies a delicate a-nd 
agreeable flavour. 

The upper part being composed chiefly of bone is 
but little used as food, but the sides and front of the 
face are eaten either when fresh or j)ickled. Moi^e com- 
monly they are pickled, dried and sold as chaps or 
chawls, which are boiled and eaten cold, but not un- 
frequently they are eaten fresh after having been 
roasted or taken out of pickle and boiled. 

When served as a Christmas dish they are stuffed 
with a great variety of valuable condiments, so that a 
slice consists more of stuffing than flesh, and thus pre- 
pared is a costly and highly prized dish. The bones 
are removed, the skin is left on and coloured and de- 
corated, and the whole is boiled. 

The liver of certain animals is a favourite dish, as 
that of the pig by the poor, and of lamb, calf, and 
Strasburgh goose by the rich, and although it is not 
equal to flesh as a food, it furnishes a considerable pro- 
portion of nutritive elements. 

The liver of the ox and sheep is a less agreeable food, 
and indeed is rarely eaten in England, except by the 
very poor ; but in Scotland the latter is more frequently 
consumed in the preparation known as haggis. It is 
often eaten raw by the Arabs of Mesopotamia. 

The liver of all animals is apt to be infested by a 
parasite of the hydatid class, but as it is evident 
to the naked eye, it may usually be avoided. It is 
desirable that the food should be cut into slices and 
examined, and also that it should be well cooked. The 
usual mode of cooking it is frying, by which the 
flavour is greatly improved. 

The composition varies somewhat with the nature 
and degree of fattening of the animal, so that its 



OFFAL. 79 

allniminous and fatty elements will not always bear the 
same relation to each other. 

The followino- is the composition, in 100 parts, of the 
most solid kind, viz., ox liver, in which the nitrogenous 
elements are usually in excess, as compared with the 
liver of other animals. : — 

No. 26. 
Water 74 Nitrogenous 18-9 Fat 4-1 Salts 3 

An average specimen of the liver of the ox yields 17|^ 
per cent, of carbon and 8 per cent, of nitrogen, or 1,126 
grains of carbon and 210 grains of nitrogen in the lb. ; 
but if the free hydrogen be reckoned as carbon, the total 
quantity of carbon will be 1,338 grains per lb. 

The lungs, or as they are vulgarly termed lights, 
are eaten as a part of the pluck or fry, and as they are 
composed almost exclusively of membranes and vessels 
they contain a high proportion of albumen and other 
nitrogenous ma^tter. They are not, however, very easily 
masticated or digested, and could scarcely be eaten 
alone. It is desirable that they should be well cleansed, 
and any diseased portion and the glands removed. 

The omentum consists partly of membrane and ves- 
sels, and partly of fat, and is an agreeable addition to 
the otherwise lean fry. That from an old animal is not 
so tender or so readily masticated as from a young 
one, and it is always desirable to masticate it weU. A 
part of it is eaten as tripe. 

The pancreas, and the thyroid and sublingual glands, 
pass by the name of sweetbread, and command a very 
high price. That of the calf is the most esteemed, but 
that of the lamb is not unfrequently substituted for it. It 
contains a considerable proportion of water and some fat, 
and has a delicious flavour when properly prepared. 

The intestines are used as food by man in the pre- 
• 5 



80 NITKOGENOUS AL'IMAL FOODS. 

paration of sausages and black puddings, whilst tlie 
thicker and fatter parts are eaten as tripe. 

Tripe is prepared from the stomach and intestines, 
with the fatty structures attached thereto, of the ox 
and cow, and consists of two parts, viz., the walls of those 
organs and the enclosed fat. It is prepared simply by 
thoroughly cleansing the organs from every adherent 
substance, and from the flavours of bile or other dis- 
agreeable matters, and then gently boiling them in clean 
water for about an hour. When thus prepared, it is a 
food of somewhat delicate and agreeable flavour, and of 
very easy mastication and digestion. 

Its chemical composition necessarily varies with the 
proportion of fat ; but, taking an average of the different 
cuts, it may be represented as follows, in 100 parts : — 

No. 27. 
Water 68 Nitrogenous 13-2 Fat 16-4 Salts 2-4 

Hence, it is a food affording considerable nutriment, 
but not very satisfying, for it is fully digested in 
about one hour, and the stomach soon calls for another 
supply of food. Moreover, the nitrogenous compounds 
are rather those of gelatin than of albumen, and are 
perhaps, therefore, somewhat less valuable as nutriments 
than the quantity of nitrogen might indicate. 

The ease and rapidity with which tripe is digested 
seem to render it a very proper food for the sick, but in 
practice it is found that the absence of pronounced 
flavour, and perhaps the unusual nature of the food, 
prevent its selection by the sick generally. It is rather 
the food of the poor, and is not in general use by any 
class of the community. There are 1,190 grains of 
carbon and 69 ^ of nitrogen in eachdb. 

The feet of animals consist of two chief chemical 
constituents of food, viz., oil and gelatin, and" hence we 
have neat's foot oil and calf's foot jelly. 



OFFAL. 81 

The oil lias too strong a flavour to be used as food, 
and must be removed before the foot is eaten. This is 
effected by the application of heat after the free use of 
the knife, and as the loot is cooked by being boiled in 
water it is necessary that the oil should be skimmed 
from the broth that the latter may be fit for food. 

When properly prepared the broth contains jelly and 
oJJ, both of which m.'a,j be separated and used, whilst the 
insoluble part of the foot contains a portion of skin 
and cartilage, which is nutritious and agreeable. The 
flavour, however, of both cow-heel and tripe is but 
slight, and does not stimulate the sense of taste, so that 
vinegar and other condiments are commonly eaten 
with them. 

Sheep's trotters, called shepis talon, were made into a 
dish in the fourteenth century, with eggs, pepper, salt. 
saffron and raisins. 

Pigs' feet were found by Dr. Beaumont to be 
digested in about one hour, and it is probable that cow- 
heel would require the same time, except such tendinous 
parts as are masticated with difficulty and may be 
only partially digested after the lapse of several hours. 

Collared pork is made from the gelatinous parts of the 
pig, as the ears, feet and face, and was in use in the 
fourteenth century according to the following recipe : — 

* Gele cf Flessh. 
' Take swyn' feet and snowt' and the eerys, capons' conyin'g, 
calu' fete, and waische he clene, and do he to seethe in the 
thriddel of wyne and vyneg' and wat and make forth as bifore ' 
;6ee recipe on fish jelly, page 113). 



82 NITEOGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS, 



CHAPTER X. 

SAUSAGES, BLACK PUDDING, AND BLOOD. 

There are two kinds of sausages, viz., those made 
from fresh meat and those from preserved meat, and 
both are placed in pieces of intestine. 

The former are frequently prepared at home, and con- 
sist chiefly of meat which has been chopped finely, 
bread, and condiments ; and as they are moist and 
fresh, they cannot be kept long without decomposition. 
Their value depends upon the kind, quality, and quan- 
tity of the meat, and when made properly are agreeable 
and valuable foods, but they may be made of inferior 
and even diseased meat, and should there be any 
disagreeable flavour it is disguised by an excessive 
use of pepper. Hence, their composition is so doubtful 
as to be a byword ; yet because it is possible to have 
them pure, and their flavour is agreeable, as well as 
for their convenience at table, they are in very general 
use. 

The latter kind are prepared on the Continent, where 
they are intended to be kept for use. Their nutritive 
value is much greater than that of fresh sausages, since 
the meat is very dry, and they are composed of meat 
only, and, as a general expression, it may be stated 
that they are equal to three times their weight of fresh 
meat. Their flavour is agreeable and varied by cloves 
of garlic. They are particularly adapted to the use of 
travellers, soldiers in camp, and labourers, who cannot 
cook their meat, but the cost in this country precludes 
their use by the latter. Great care should be taken lest 



SAUSAGES, BLACK PUDDING, AND BLOOD. 83 

diseased pork may be thus eaten and cause tlie trichi- 
nous disease. 

In the island of Majorca each family makes a supply 
large enough for a year. They are made of pork ex- 
clusively, stuffed into large skins, and flavoured with 
spices, and are not considered ready for use until they 
have been kept six months. With bread, they constitute 
the ordinary food of ail classes. 

The Prussians, during their recent war with France, 
prepared sausages, which were in a high degree 
nutritious and not disagreeable. They consisted of a 
mixture of bacon, pea- flour, onions, salt, and condi- 
ments. The pea-flour was prepared after a patented 
method, by which it did not become sour, and the food 
remained good. The daily ration per man was 1 lb., 
and it was only necessary to boil it in water for a short 
time before eating it. 

Black puddiugs and blood are much more frequently 
eaten in large towns than in villages, since the fre- 
quency with which a.nimals are slaughtered in the former 
renders the daily preparation of the latter possible. 
They are prepared with blood, and chiefly that of pigs, 
to which groats and various herbs with lumps of fat 
are added. The whole is enclosed in a piece of the 
intestine of the pig and boiled, but it is usual before 
eating it to cook it further by frying it, with or without 
previously warming it by immersion in hot water. 
When quite fresh they are savoury and agreeable, but as 
blood rapidly decomposes, they may become tainted 
before being cooked, and when yet apparently fresh, and 
if kept long after having been cooked, they lose their 
agreeable flavour and contain ammonia. 

There is no doubt an objection to, perhaps a prejudice 
against, eating blood, based in some degree upon the 
prohibition to the Jews as contained in the Old Testa- 



84 



NITKOGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 



ment : 'Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesli : 
for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever 
eateth it shall be cut off.' — Lev. xvii. 14; and also 
on the common belief that the blood may be diseased 
without offering evidences whereby the disease might be 
recognised. As to the former, it may be scarcely neces- 
sary to add, that we eat a portion of blood in flesh, and 
that even when the animal is killed by cutting its 
throat after the Jewish fashion, it is not possible to 
extract all the blood from the body, and that even the 
Jews must eat some of it. Moreover, blood contains 
nutritive elements of great value, and is inferior only 
to the flesh which is made from it. 

The folio wiug is the composition of fresh blood in 
1,000 parts :— 

No. 28. 



Water 








779-00 


Fibrin 






2-20 


Fatty matter 






1-60 


Serolin 






0-02 


Phosphorised fat 






0-49 


Cholesterin 






0-09 


Saponified fat . 






1-OQ 


Albumen . 








69-40 


Blood corpuscles 








141-10 


Extractive matters and sal 


ts 




6-80 


Chloride uf sodium 








3-10 


Other soluble salts 








2-50 


Earthy phosphates 


. 






0-33 


Iron . 


. 






0-57 



Besides salts of sodium, potassium, calcium, magne- 
sium, and iron, there is sugar ; and in certain cases, 
salts of copper and lead have been discovered. 

The salts in blood perform an important role in nu- 
trition, and it may be well to indicate their nature in 
the pig, sheep and ox, whose blood is used as food. 
The following are the quantities per cent, of all the 
salts : — 



SAUSAGES, BLACK PUDDING, AND BLOOD. 85 

No. 29. 

Pig Sheep Ox 

Phosphoric acid .... 365 14-8 1404 

Alkalies 49-8 55.79 60 

Alkaline earths .... 3-8 4*87 364 

Mineral acids and Oxide of iron . 9-9 24-54 22-32 

If there be any ground for fear lest diseased germs 
should exist in the blood, it may be set n.side by the 
consideration that a temperature at and above 212°, 
if fully applied, will suffice to destroy all known 
elements of disease, and that blood when fresh and so 
cooked may be eaten with impunity. Having regard 
to these facts, and to the high price which is now paid 
for meat, I think it would be folly to object to the use 
of blood as a food under proper restrictions, one of 
which should be that the animal from which it was 
taken should not be in a state of disease. 

The common snail has been occasionally eaten in 
England and the vineyard snail on the Continent, whilst 
slugs are commonly consumed in China. So far as 
respects the use of the snail as food in England, it was 
limited to the sick, and is probably a harmless and not 
an ill- flavoured substance, but the quantity of nutriment 
which it can afford is very small. The snail, in common 
with other creeping things, was a forbidden food to the 
Jews : ' These also shall be unclean unto you among 
the creeping things that creep upon the earth ; the 
weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after his kind, 
and the ferret, and the chameleon, and the lizard, and 
the snail, and the mole.' — Lev. xi. 29, 30. 

It is not desirable to occupy the pages of this book with 
reference to foods which are of a somewhat disgusting 
nature, or such as are rarely used by civilised people, 
but it may be proper to name a very few of them. 

The iguana, an enormous lizard, is commonly eaten 
in Zanzibar ; and lizards of smaller size, as the sanda, 



86 NITEOOENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

are frequently consumed by the low caste people of 
India. Lizards were prohibited to the Jews as food 
(Lev. xi. 30). 

The edible frog has long been used as food, and when 
properly fed the hind legs are accounted by the French 
as a luxury. 

Snakes of many kinds are eaten in India and in other 
hot countries where the inhabitants are extremely poor. 

A small monkey {Gercopithecus griseoviridis) and a 
frugivorous bat are eaten as delicacies in Zanzibar. 

The bat (but of what kind is not stated) was pro- 
hibited to the Jews as food (Lev. xi. 19). 

The large white ants are eaten by many African 
nations, in the absence of more agreeable foods. 

Locusts are commonly eaten by the Bedouins of 
Mesopotamia and other Eastern peoples, who string 
them together and eat them on their journeys with 
unleavened cake and butter. It is worthy of note, that 
this food was not prohibited to the Jews. ' Even 
these of them ye may eat ; the locust after his kind, 
and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after 
his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind.' — Lev. xi. 
22. John the Baptist ate locusts and wild honey. 



CHAPTER XI. 

EXTRACTS OF MEAT AND FLUID MEAT. 

These are prepared in two forms, viz., in a thick semi- 
fluid state a,nd as solids. 

The very large proportions which the trade has 
attained since Baron von Liebig lent his name to the 
process by which the former kind is prepared, demands 



EXTKACTS OF MEAT AND FLUID MEAT. 87 

that the precise value of these foods should be well known, 
and with the observations which have been made by 
numerous scientific men, as well as the aid aiforded by 
popular experience, the task is far less difficult than 
when I first called attention to the subject. 

The extracts are prepared by boiling down the flesh 
of animals, so that thirty-two pounds of flesh are said 
to be required to prepare one pound of Liebig's extract. 

It is desirable to select lean cattle for this purpose, 
and if we assume that the net flesh Aveisfht of an 
average beast in Australia, the Brazils, and other meat- 
producing countries in America, is 300 lbs., one animal 
will yield only about ten pounds of the extract. 

During the process, all the fat and as much of 
the gelatin and albumen as can be extracted, are 
removed from the solution of flesh, whilst the fibrin, 
being insoluble, is necessarily left behind. Hence 
there remain water, salts, osmazome and the extrac- 
tives of flesh, or in general terms, the flavouring matters 
and the salts of meat — thus leaving out all that is 
popularly regarded as nutritious. 

This substance varies in value according to the 
amount of water (usually about 20 per cent.) which is 
allowed to remain in it. The intense flavour of meat 
which it possesses is like that of roasted flesh, and is 
always the same. 

The following are tests of its value : — 

1. Sixty per cent, should be soluble in strong alcohol. 

2. When dried at a low heat it should not lose more 
than sixteen per cent, of its weight. 

3. There should be no fatty matter or albumen. 

4. There should be nine to ten per cent, of nitrogen. 
6. The ash should be about twenty per cent., and 

contain from one quarter to half its weight of potash, 
besides about half that proportion of phosphoric acid. 



88 NITKOGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

What is necessary to render this extract as valuable 
as the meat itself for the purposes of nutrition is to 
restore the substances which were rejected, and those 
have been shown tc be almost equivalent to the 
whole meat. There is but little left in the extract to 
nourish the body, and the elements which it really 
possesses are salts which, may be obtained otherwise at 
an infinitely smaller cost, and the flavour of meat which 
disguises the real poverty of the substance. 

If it be asked why so much of the flesh is thus 
unused, we answer that only the soluble parts of the 
meat could be obtained in this form, whilst the insoluble 
but most nutritious parts are left behind, and only such 
of the soluble parts are retained as do not put on the 
putrefactive process, and hence nearly all nitrogenous 
matters are excluded. If it be further asked whether 
the popular belief in the value of this food is altogether 
based upon a fallacy, we answer, No ; for it is a valuable 
addition to other foods, since it yields an agreeable 
flavour, which leads to the inference, however incorrect, 
that meat is present, a.nd when prepared with hot 
water and properly flavoured, gives a degree of ex- 
hilaration which may be useful to the feeble, and is as 
useful to the healthy as tea and coffee. 

If, however, it be relied upon as a principal article of 
food for the sick it will prove a broken staff, except to 
those extremely feeble persons who can take very little 
food, and are ftivourably influenced by slight causes. 

Its proper position in dietetics is somewhat more than 
that of a meat-flavourer, but all that is required for nutri- 
tion should be added to it. Thus, in the preparation of 
ordinary soup and beef tea, the extract may be added to 
the stock to increase the flavour, or it may be mixed 
with white of egg, gelatin, bread and other cooked 
farinaceous substance. Liebig, in a letter to the 'Times, 



EXTKACTS OF MEAT AND FLUID MEAT. 89 

stated that ' it is not nutriment in the ordinar}^ sense;' 
and Professor Mmen has shown the small nutritive 
value of this substance in the ' Transactions of the 
Medical Society of Upsala, 1868.' 

It is not, however, to be entirely removed from the 
list of foods and classed with condiments, for the salts 
of flesh which it contains are valuable in the process 
of nutrition ; but it should be classed with such 
nervous stimulants as tea and coffee, which supply 
little or no nutriment, yet modify assimilation and 
nutrition. Used alone for beef -tea it is a delusion. 

The solid preparations contain a considerable pro- 
portion of gelatin, and do not putrefy because the 
gelatin has been dried. It is needful to use a much 
larger quantity of these than of the semi-flnid extracts, 
in order to obtain the same amount of meat-flavour and 
salts, but by so much is the gelatin and thereby nutri- 
ment increased. Hence its qualities and uses are not 
identical with those of the semi-fluid extract, and when 
derived from the same class of animals, both may be 
advantageously used together. These solid foods are 
not exclusively prepared from beef, but represent the 
flesh of other animals, and offer a variety and delicacy 
of flavour adapted to the wants of the sick. 

Fluid Meat. 

A preparation of lean meat, by Mr. Stephen Darby, 
has been introduced under the title of fluid meat, which 
differs from the various extracts of meat in i-etaining 
the fibrin, gelatin, and coagulable albumen. This is 
effected by dissolving them as they would be in the 
process of digestion in the stomach, and thus both 
advancing them a stage in the process of digestion, and 
enabling them to resist decomposition. One pound of 
the fluid meat" is obtained from four pounds of lean 



90 NITKOOENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

flesh, and assuming that all the nitrogenous compounds 
in the flesh as well as the salts are present in it, it 
must be a convenient as well as valuable food. -The 
following is Mr. Darby's description of it : — 

' Fluid meat contains all tlie constituents of lean meat, 
including fibrin, gelatin, and coagulable albumen. Bv the 
process pursued these are all brought into a condition in which 
they are soluble in water and are not any longer coagulable 
on heating — in which state they have been designated pep- 
tones. This change is effected, as in ordinary digestion, by 
means of pepsin and hydrochloric acid. Lean meat, finely 
sliced, is digested with the pepsin in water previously acidu- 
lated with hydrochloric acid, at a temperature of 96° to 100° 
Fahr., until the whole fibrin of the meat has disappeared. 
The liquor is then filtered, separating small portions of fat, 
cartilage, or other insoluble matters, and neutralised by means 
of carbonate of soda, and finally carefully evaporated to the 
consistence of a soft extract. But this process, whatever care 
may be. taken, leaves the fluid meat with a strong bitter taste. 
This bitterness attaches always to meat digested with pepsin ; 
and this, in the opinion of medical men, would wholly pre- 
clude its acceptance and adoption as an article of food. In 
order to remove this bitter taste, and to obviate the objection 
to fluid meats on that ground, I have made many experimental 
researches, and have at length discovered that the purpose is 
completely and satisfactorily effected by the addition, in a 
certain part of the process, of a small proportion of fresh 
pancreas. The fluid meat so prepared is entirely free from 
any bitter flavour.' 

Mr. Darby regards these changes as exactly analogous 
to the action of the pepsin and pancreatic juice on 
food in the body. 



ALBUMEN, GELATIN, AND CASEIN. 91 



CHAPTEE XII. 

albumen, gelatin, and casein. 
Albumen. 

This substance is familiarly represented by white of 
egg, in which it apjjears as a bluish white, transparent, 
and semi-fluid substance, at the ordinary temperature, 
but when heated becomes opaque, yellowish white, and 
hard, and when the drying process is complete it is 
greatly reduced in bulk and resembles horn. Its che- 
mical composition is as follows : — 

No. 30. 
C. 63-4 H. 7-0 0. 22-1 N. 57 Sulphur 2 

It is also found in all compound animal structures and 
food substances, as well as in the most important 
vegetable productions in a somewhat modified form. 
The composition of vegetable albumen is as follows : — 

No. 3L 
C. 54-0 H. 7-8 0. 22-4 N. 15-8 

Albumen is by far the most important single element 
of food, since it contains nutritive matter in a compen- 
dious and easily digestible form, and being almost with- 
out flavour may enter into the composition of foods yqyj 
diverse in other respects, whilst it is adapted to every 
variety of taste. Its composition is identical with that 
of the same substance in the blood and tissues of man 
and other animals, and may be used by the body or 
incorporated in it with great ease, although it is neces- 
sary that it should first be broken up, so as to form new 
combinations. The following is the effect on the vital 



92 NITROaENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

processes as shown by my experiments. Two good sized 
eggs caused an average increase in the quantity of 
carbonic acid evolved in respiration of -27, '45, and 
•13 grain, and maxima of increase of -88, 1*12, and -38 
grain per minute on different persons. The quantity 
of air was increased 17 and 38 cubic inches per minute. 
{Phil. Trans. 1859.) 

Ten grains of dry albumen when burnt produce heat 
sufficient to raise 12*85 lbs. of water 1° Fahr., which is 
equal to lifting 9,920 lbs. one foot high. 

Gelatin. 

This substance, although differing from albumen in 
appearance, is very similar in chemical composition. It 
is always found in a solid state, as in the tendons and 
bones, and may be readily seen in the latter by im- 
mersing them, for some days, in hydrochloric acid and 
water for the removal of the mineral matter. 

It is usually prepared as food from the tendinous 
and horny structures of the hoof and heels and from the 
skin and bones of animals, and when properly purified it 
is equally valuable from any of these sources. Care and 
skill are, however, required to perfectly separate the 
p-elatin from other animal substances which are found 
with it and would injuriously flavour it, and hence the 
cost of one specimen may be thrice that of another. 

When pure it is almost destitute of flavour, and, 
unlike the albumen in white of egg, requires wine and 
other substances to render it palatable. When, how- 
ever, it has been properly prepared it is a very agreeable 
food, and particularly for the sick, from its flavour and 
readiness of mastication and digestion. 

Its nutritive properties have been unjustly called in 
question, because an elaborate series of experiments 



ALBUMEN, GELATIN, AND CASEIN. 93 

wliich were made in France, on the feeding of dogs 
with ground bones showed that it could not alone 
sustain life, but these experiments proved only that life 
and health could not be sustained on one food alone, 
and not that gelatin, when properly mixed with other 
foods, is not a valuable aid to nutrition. 

My experiments, and those of others, have proved that 
it is a valuable food, since it increases vital action in the 
same direction, if not in the same degree, as albumen, as 
shown by the following details {Phil. Trans. 1859) : — 

120 grains of dry isinglass prepared with 12 ounces 
of water gave a maximum increase of '84 grain of car- 
bonic acid per minute in respiration, and an average 
increase during the period of its action of '45 grain. 
The effect was quite equal to that of albumen. 

It is time that the fallacy referred to should be 
exploded, and that it should be no longer necessary to 
allude to it, for it is the experience of all people that 
jelly is a valuable food. 

The purest kind of isinglass, is that obtained 
from the intestines of the sturgeon, and commands a 
price far above that of ordinary gelatin. Its advan- 
tages are a lighter colour, less flavour, and greater 
tMckening power, so that it will produce a jelly clearer 
and in greater quantity than oi'dinary gelatin. The 
improvements which have been effected in the prepara- 
tion of gelatin, and particularly in France, have, however, 
provided new facilities for the adulteration of isinglass. 

Although dried gelatin contains much nutritive 
matter in a small compass, the same substance when 
prepared for the table is greatly diluted by the addition 
of water, and a considerable quantity must be eaten in 
order to supply as much nutritive material as would be 
found in a good sized hen's egg, and hence persons in 
health partake of it as a luxury or as an unimportant 



94 NITKOaENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

addition to other foods, ratlier than as a useful article 
of diet, and its merits as a food are not fairly tested. 

Vegetable jellj is fonnd in the juices of plants, as in 
that of the vine, and differs but little in composition 
from animal jelly. A substance somewhat similar is 
found in various sea weeds, as the common green moss ; 
whilst gum, which is widely distributed throughout 
the vegetable kingdom, has an analogous composition. 

Birds' nests, which are used in China and some other 
Eastern countries as food, resemble isinglass in their 
quality and flavour. They contain 90 per cent, of 
animal and nitrogenous matter, which is secreted by 
the bird itself in the act of making the nest. It is, how- 
ever, a dear mode of obtaining gelatin. 

Casein. 

Casein is readily obtained by throwing down the 
curd from milk and washing it repeatedly in pure water, 
and is employed in the preparation of cheese cakes and 
other agreeable and well known foods. When dried the 
composition resembles that of albumen and gelatin. 

The effect U23on myself of eating the casein thrown 
down from one piut of good skimmed milk was to 
increase the carbonic acid in the expired air by 1*34 
grain, and the volume of air inspired by 28 cubic 
inches per minute. {Phil. Trans. 1859.) 



EGGS. 95 



CHAPTER XIII. 

EGGS. 

It would not be possible to exaggerate the value of 
eggs as an article of food, whether from their universal 
use, or the convenient form in which the food is 
preserved, presented, and cooked, and the nutriment 
which they contain. 

There is no doubt much difference in their flavour 
according to the kind and feeding of the bird, for 
that of the large Q^g of the sea gull is much 
stronger than that of the duck, and both than that 
of the common fowl or the plover, and that kind is 
preferred which gives the sweetest and richest flavour. 
The feeding of the fowl has far greater influence over 
the flavour of the e^g than is usually acknowledged, 
for the Q^^ of the stray fowl on the Irish bog is far less 
rich than that of the well fed barn-door fowl or a fowl 
which is in part fed on kitchen scraps. It is also well 
known that the breed of the fowl greatly influences 
the quality as it does the size of the Qgg, and the inter- 
mixture of breeds which is carefully carried on is of 
service in this respect. 

But it is only within narrow limits that there may be 
said to be variety, for there is no Qg^ of a bird known 
which is not good for food or which could not be eaten 
by a hungry man. This is due to their similarity in 
chemical composition, for there is always a white por- 
tion and a yelk, the former consisting of nearly pure 
albumen with water, and the latter of albumen, oils, 
sulphur and water. 



96 NITROGENOUS ANIMAL POODS. 

The oil is separated from tlie yelk of liens' eggs in 
Eussia and used for medicinal purposes, each yelk 
yielding about two drachms. The yelk was also used in 
the middle ages for the painter's art before the dis- 
covery of oil colours, as in the Chapter House at 
Westminster. 

The weight of an ordinary fowl's egg is one and a half 
to two ounces, whilst that of tlie duck is two to three 
ounces, of the sea gull and turkey three ounces to four 
ounces, and of the goose four ounces to six ounces. 

When eaten by persons in health, it is customary to 
use both the yelk and the white, but many sick persons 
eat the yelk only on account of its flavour and digesti- 
bility. When used in puddings or in the preparation 
of a thousand delightful culinary compounds^ it is more 
common to separate the yelk from the white, and to 
use one without the other. 

When boiled it is usual to eat them before the white 
or albuminous part has become entirely opaque by 
the consolidation of the albumen, and there cannot 
be a doubt that they are more readily digested in that 
state than when further hardened by heat. It is said 
that an unboiled egg is more easily digested than one 
that is cooked, but this may be doubted if the egg be 
not overcooked, and unless the person eating it had been 
accustomed to eggs in their uncooked state he would 
not prefer it. Perhaps the most agreeable form is the 
flaky state in which the egg may be obtained when 
placed in cold water and eaten very soon after the water 
has been boiled, but the effect of heat thus applied 
varies with the time required to raise the water to 
boiling point. 

When, however, it is cooked by dry heat, as in pre- 
paring omelettes, the albumen is more consolidated, and 
the merit of the dish will consist in its retaining much 



EGGS 97 

of the softness and all the flavour of the egg, notwith- 
standing the solidification of the albumen. There is no 
food in which egg is required to be dried or in which 
the drying and hardening process should be carried far 
beyond that of the boiled egg. 

A very favourite compromise is the use of the raw 
egg with a stimulant both to render the compound more 
agreeable to the palate and more easily digestible, as 
for example, wine and egg or brandy and egg, but of 
the two the former is to be preferred. Another is the 
admixture of it with milk to render the compound more 
nutritious, but if the milk be new and good, it is very 
doubtful whether such a combination is not more fitted 
to hinder than to promote digestion and nutrition. 
When it is used it should be in a cooked form, as that 
of pudding, and thereby be rendered more digestible. 

A most delicious food is that of poached egg, as pre- 
pared in France, Mexico, and the East generally, where 
a pottery dish is used instead of an iron j)an as in this 
country, and the heat kept moderate by using charcoal 
fires. The dish is very thick, so that it must be placed 
upon the fire for a little time .to become well warmed 
through, after which butter, with jjepper and salt, are 
j)laced in it, by which the surface is well lubricated 
and a savoury mixture prepared to receive the egg. The 
egg is then broken and dropped into it, and in a short 
time turned so that both sides may be slightly browned, 
but without breaking the yelk bag. When cooked, it is 
served on the same dish and in the hottest state pos- 
sible, and then the flavour is the most delicate and 
perceptible. This food will often be eaten by the invalid 
when others are rejected. 

Eggs are not improved by keeping, but should be 
eaten as early as possilbe ; yet they may be kept for days 
or even weeks without material change by placing them 



98 NITROaENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

on end in net trays and in dark corners and reversing 
them daily. When intended to preserve tliem for months, 
it is necessary to adopt special means, and the simplest 
and perhaps the best is to place them in lime or lime 
vy^ater in a dark room, bnt as this renders the shell 
more brittle, many are broken on being removed or 
during the process of cooking. 

The rapidity of intercourse between countries has 
been so greatly increased of late years, that Irish and 
French eggs are frequently brought and sold in the 
shops in England within seven or fourteen days after 
they were laid and whilst they still retain much of the 
character of fresh eggs. This proceeds throughout the 
warmer parts of the year, but the French and some 
English farmers have the habit of accumulating eggs 
laid at that season in order to send them to market 
when they are scarcer and dearer, and hence eggs sold 
in winter are not only dearer but inferior to those of 
summer. 

Nearly 60,000 cases of eggs were imported into 
London in 1870 from France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, 
and Hamburg, besides- nearly 170,000 shipped to 
Southampton, so that nearly one quarter of a million 
of boxes were imported into these two ports. Of this 
number four-fifths came from France alone. 

The digestion of egg is not so rapid a process as 
might have been anticipated, for the time is that of the 
digestion of mutton, viz., three to four hours. 

The offensive character of decomposed eggs is such as 
to prevent their use under ordinary circumstances, and 
therefore the instances are few where disease is known 
to have originated from that cause. The effect of 
frying is more satisfactory than that of boiling eggs 
which are in a state of decomposition, but such eggs are 
generally cooked in puddings by whicJi the flavour is 



EGGS. GO 

disguised. Eggs in snch a state should certainly be 
well cooked if eaten at all. 

It may be doubted whether as much attention is paid 
in England to the production of eggs as the utility of 
the food demands, and particularly by the poor to 
whom their value is a consideration. Efforts should be 
made to induce all persons conveniently circumstanced 
to keep hens and ducks, and there is reason to believe 
that ducks are more profitable than hens, haviug 
regard to the number and size of the eggs laid by them. 
The solid matter aixd the oil in a duck's eo-o- exceeds 
that of a hen's egg by so much as one-fourth. 

An egg weighing 1 j ounce consists of 120 grains of 
carbon and 17| grains of nitrogen or 15*25 per cent, of 
carbon and 2 per cent, of nitrogen . 

The following is the composition of a hen's e 
according to Lawes and Gilbert: — 

No. 32. 
Fresh weight 
Dry weight . 
Fat . 

Mineral matter 
Nitrogen 
Carbon 

or, per cent. — 

Dry matter 30-0 

Mineral matter 1-4 

Dry fat 11-0 

Nitrogen ....... 2*0 

Carbon 17-o2 

or Carbon and Nitrogen reckoned as Carbon . 20-63 



cro* 



1-8 


ounce 


•45 




•198 




•025 




•036 




•275 





100 NIlKOaENOUS A.NIMAL FOODS 

CHAPTER XIV. 

POULTRY AND GAME. 

This class of foods is an exceedingly large one, and 
althouofli it mi^fht not be difficult to name those which 
are sold in the markets of this country, it would be 
impossible to include all which are eaten as food by the 
inhabitants of other, and particularly of the Eastern, 
countries. 

The animals which are regarded as game by our laws 
are hares, pheasants, partridges, grouse, heath-game, 
moor-game, black-game, and bustards ; but the following 
are also protected : woodcocks, snipe, quails, landrails, 
and conies. 

The flesh of birds differs very considerably from that 
of mammals in two respects, viz. : in the relative quan- 
tity of fat and the quality of the juices. The fat of 
birds is laid up in various parts of the interior of the bod}^ 
as well as under the skin, but is very sparingly found 
in the fibres or the juices of the flesh; and as it has a 
flavour which is not regarded as agreeable, it enters but 
little into the food of man. The juices are deficient in 
red blood, and have a more delicate flavour than those 
of adult mammals, but they difPer less from those of 
young mammals. 

The muscles of fowl differ little in their anatomical 
structure from those of the mammalia, and are quite as 
rich in nitrogenous elements, but are relatively poorer 
in fat and salts. They are regarded as light foods, 
and more fitted for invalids than strong men, or as an 
adjunct to flesh rather than a food to sustain man. 
This is due, however, rather to the delicac}^ or absence 



POULTEY AND GAINEE. 101 

of flavour, than to an j real deficiency of nutriment as a 
food, so that a person could not be induced to limit 
himself to this kind of flesh food alone, if he could 
obtain beef or mutton. It should, however, be un- 
derstood that it is a nutritious food, and one which 
might be further produced with advantage to our food 
resources. 

There is a general similaritj^ of character by which 
the flesh of this class of creatures is readily distin- 
guished, but there are, at the same time, very appre- 
ciable differences, according to the nature of the bird, 
and its breed, food, and feeding. The flesh of the 
domestic fowl diff'ers very greatly, both in fulness and 
delicacy of flavour, in diff'erent specimens, and the flesh 
of a graminivorous is very readily distinguished from 
that of a carnivorous bird. The flesh of a fish-eating 
bird, as the sea-gull, and of a carrion bird, as the crow 
or buzzard, is disagreeable ; and even a domesticated 
fowl, as the duck, may be rendered disagreeable by 
being fed on fish. 

The flavour of wild birds is fuller and strono^er than 
that of domesticated birds, and the flesh is richer in 
nitrogenous, as it is generally poorer in carbonaceous, 
matter. The structure is also closer and firmer, so that 
in the fresh state it is regarded as hard, and tough, 
and it is desirable, if not necessary, to allow the pro- 
cess of decomposition to commence, in order to cause a 
separation and softening of the fibres. Hence, whilst a 
domestic fowl is eaten when quite fresh, a wild fowl 
is kept for many days, or for weeks, before it is cooked. 

There is, however, much difference in this respect 
according to the habits of the birds, as well as to their 
nature ; for larks, sparrows, and other small wild birds, 
feeding on insects or grain, are both rich and delicate 
food when properly cooked. 



102 NITROGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

It may also be added, that the young of flesh- eating 
birds, as the rook, may be eaten, when the adnlt bird 
would be repulsive. Eook-pie is a dish which but few 
despise, and has a fulness and lusciousness of flavour 
which excels any dish of graminivorous birds. 

The crane, bustard, curlew, and heron were eaten by 
our [N'orman invaders and their descendants ; and it is 
related of the Conqueror that he attempted to strike his 
favourite, William Fitz-Osborn, for serving up a crane 
when half roasted. As the crane and heron feed chiefly 
on frogs, fish, and other animal food, they would not be 
an acceptable dish at the present day. They were directed 
to be larded with fat of pig or bacon, and eaten with 
ginger. 

The peacock and swan were in great repute as a dish 
at high festivals, and may be seen carried in state in 
drawings of the middle ages. As a matter of historical 
interest, it may be recorded that on the visit of the 
Prince and Princess of Wales to Chatsworth, they 
lunched with the Duke of Rutland in the ball-room of 
Haddon Hall, on December 20, 1872, and were served 
with the two ancient dishes already referred to, viz., 
boar's head and peacock pie- The pea-hen is still occa- 
sionally eaten, and has a flavour intermediate between 
that of the common fowl and the pheasant. 

Many of our smaller birds, as quails, rails, teal, wood- 
cock, and snipe, were not used as food in the fourteenth 
century, and the aborigines of Britain were deterred 
from eating hens or geese by superstitious fear. 

There is no reason to believe that the flesh of any 
bird is injurious to man ; but it is only certain people, 
as the low caste natives of India, who would eat carrion 
birds, except as a last resource ; and even in reference 
to these it may be doubted whether poverty has not led 
to this degradation of taste. 



POULTRY AND GAME. 103 

The flesh of the male bird has nsually a fuller flavour 
than that of the female, whether we refer to domesti- 
cated or wild animals, but particularly to the latter, as 
will be remembered by one who has shot and eaten the 
magnificent wild turkey of the Western States of 
America. 

In reference to domesticated fowls, it may be added 
that the capon retains some of the strength of flavour 
of the male bird with much of the delicacy of the 
female. The merits of this mode of preparing poultry 
for the table are not sufficiently appreciated in our 
day, but were well known to our ancestors in the 
middle ages. 

There were numerous birds, and particularly the flesh 
and fish-eating birds, which were prohibited to the 
Jews. The list, as given in Lev. xi., is as follows : — 
The eagle, ossifrage, ospray, vulture, kite, raven, owl, 
night-hawk, cuckow, hawk, little owl, cormorant, great 
owl, swan, pelican, gier eagle, stork, heron, and lap- 
wing. 

The blood of the common fowl differs very con- 
siderably from that of red-blooded animals, since the 
salts of iron, upon which the red colour depends, are in 
the fowl only 2*11, whilst they are 24 or 25 per cent, of 
the salts in beef and mutton. So far it is inferior, but 
in another quality it is superior ; for the phosphates, 
which are said to play so important a part in regene- 
rating nervous tissue, are three times more abundant in 
the latter than in the former. 

The following is the average chemical composition of 
the flesh of poultry when fit for the market, in 100 
parts : — 

No. 33. 
Water 74 Nitrogenous 21 Fat 3-8 Salts 1'2 

The goose, wild goose, gosling, duck, wild duck. 



104 NITKOGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

canvas-back duck, widgeon, teal, quail, water-hen, 
grouse, black game, prairie lien, partridge, pheasant, 
woodcock, snipe, cygnet, capercailzie, pea-hen, Guinea 
fowl, turkey, and larks, are amongst the birds with 
which we are well acquainted as food. They have their 
own special flavours, and are not eaten indiscriminately ; 
but they are too well known to render it necessary to 
particularly describe them apart from the general cha- 
racters of the whole class. 

The flesh of rabbit has a nearer resemblance, in 
general and nutritive character to that of the hen 
than of its wild congener, the hare. It is pale in 
colour, somewhat loose in texture, without a well-defined 
flavour, and is digested with ease. It is eaten by the 
convalescent, from the delicacy of its flavour and its 
digestibility ; whilst it is consumed by the healthy, with 
condiments to provoke the appetite, and rather as a 
change than as a staple article of food. 

The constant use of this food soon induces satiety, 
and even disgust. 

The flesh of the hare and leveret is much darker in 
colour, harder in texture, and fuller of flavour than 
that of the rabbit, and is one of the most nutritious 
kinds of flesh. Its digestibility is less than that of 
rabbit, and it is a food for the healthy rather than 
for the sick. It is the practice to hang this meat for a 
considerable period before it is cooked, not only because 
the flavour is thus improved, but it is rendered much 
more easy of mastication and digestion. 

The Jews were prohibited from eating the rabbit and 
the hare, but the sanitary reason, if any, for so doing is 
not clear ; — ' And the coney, because he cheweth the 
cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto 
you. And the hare, because he cheweth the cud, but 
divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.' — Lev. 



FISH. 105 

xi. 5, 6. It may also be added, that our British ances- 
tors refused to eat hares from a religious objection to 
them. 

Squirrels are not eaten in this country, but they are, 
nevertheless, an agreeable and highly nutritious food. 
It is not unusual in the Western parts of America, as, 
indeed, in all new woodland countries where they 
abound, to eat them occasionally. The flesh is very 
dense and gelatinous, and, judging by our own expe- 
rience, may be described as luscious and satisfying. 

The flesh of the racoon is sometimes eaten. 



CHAPTER XY. 

FISH. 



The varieties of Fish which are used as food throup-hout 
the world are almost infinite. IN'o fewer than forty-five 
are quoted by Dr. H. Simpson as eaten in only one 
locality in India, viz., Dacca. (Report on Dietary, 1862.) 

Those with which we are the best acquainted are, 
cod, ling, plaice, turbot, sole, sturgeon, haddock, 
whiting, herring, sprat, mackerel, pilchard, eel, mullet 
(red and grey), skate, halibut, pike, carp, tench, roach, 
perch, salmon, trout, bream, anchovy, whitebait, and 
smelt. 

The use of fish is doubtless greatest in those countries 
where it is the most readily caught, and where poverty 
so abounds that many can obtain only that kind of 
flesh. This is particularly the case with many parts 
of India, the Mediterranean coast of Spain, and the 
Western coast of Ireland. 



106 NITKOGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

Many kinds of fish were eaten in this country in the 
fourteenth century, as the sturgeon, salmon, pike, 
haddock, codHng, roach, tench, turbot, plaice, eel, the 
conger eel, mackerel, sole, lamprey, loch, &c. ; and, 
although this has been doubted, recipes for the cooking 
of them at that period still exist. 

It is said that a fish-eating people are ill nourished, 
and in Eastern countries are particularly liable to be- 
come leprous. If this be so, it must be associated with 
such poverty as prevents the inhabitants from obtaining 
a proper variety of flesh food and vegetables. Certain 
districts on the Mediterranean coast of Spain are cited in 
illustration of these facts, where there is a fish-eating 
and a poverty-stricken population ; and if we turn to 
another fish-eating community — that of parts of the west 
coast of Norway — we find the disease, although some of 
the people are characterised by robustness of health and 
great physical strength. In the latter case, however, 
the consumed fish is chiefly the red-blooded salmon, 
which appioximates in character to the flesh of the 
mammalia, and there is not an universal exclusion of 
ordinary flesh from their dietary. 

It is not desirable that fish should be the sole kind of 
nitrogenous animal food eaten by any nation ; and, even 
if milk and eggs be added thereto, the vigour of such 
a people will not be equal to that of flesh-eating nations. 
At the same time, the value of fish as a part of a dietary 
is indicated by the larger proportion of phosphorus 
which it contains, and which renders it especially fitted 
for the use of those who perform much brain work, or 
who are the victims of much anxiety and distress. 

Fish are generally divided, for the purposes of food, 
into two classes — viz., into white-blooded and red- 
blooded, of which cod may represent the former and 
salmon the latter. It also varies in flavour, not only on 



FISH. 107 

tliis ground, but from the presence of oil in the flesh ; so 
that some kinds of fish, as the sole, contain but little, 
whilst others, as the eel, contain much. Moreover, in 
some, as the salmon, the oil is distributed through- 
out the muscular tissue, whilst in others it is stored 
up in the liver, as in the cod. As a general expres- 
sion, it may be stated that the flesh of white fish con- 
tains far less oil than that of red fish. 

It is therefore evident that, whilst the term fish may 
be applicable to an infinite number of creatures, it 
represents very different nutritive values — a difference 
far greater than exists in the flesh of the mammalia — 
and it is very difficult to give an adequate expression by 
simply stating the composition of one or two specimens. 
The following must, therefore, be accepted as a general 
expression only : per cent. — 

No. 34. 
White fish . . Water 78 Nitrogenous IS'l Fat 2-9 Salts 1 
Salmon ... „ 77 „ 16-1 „ SS „ 14 

The following table, arranged to show points of con- 
trast, indicates the composition of several kinds of fish 
in their fresh state, according to Payen : per cent. — 

No. 35. 





Water 


Dry substance 


Fat 


Nitrogen 


Conger eel 


. 79-909 


20-091 


5-021 


2-172 


Eel 


. 62-076 


37-924 


23-861 


2-000 


Whiting 


. 82-950 


17-050 


0-383 


2-416 


Mackerel 


. 68-275 


31-725 


6-758 


3-747 


Pike . 


. 77-530 


22-470 


0-602 


3-258 


Sole 


. 86-144 


13-856 


0-248 


1-911 



The same authority gives the following as the ulti- 
mate elements of dried substance, free from fat, of four 
well-known fishes : per cent. — 

No. 36. 
C. H. N. 0. 

Eel . . • . . . 52-999 7*474 14-644 19-296 

Mackerel .... 51-515 6-902 15-836 19-608 



H. 


N. 


0. 


6-581 


16-460 


20-032 


6-800 


15-535 


22-783 



108 NITKOGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

C. 

Sole 48-795 

Barbel .... 45-927 

The effect of white fish upon the vital functions is 
much less than that of the flesh of the mammalia, and 
is probably less than of poultry, but is greater than that 
of eggs. The nutritive value of the flesh of a red-blood 
fish, as salmon, differs but little from that of the red- 
blood flesh of other animals. Thus, in my experi- 
ments, eight ounces of fresh salmon caused a maximum 
increase in the quantity of carbonic acid in evolved 
respiration of '84 grain per minute in sixty-five 
minutes, and so far it was equal to flesh meat. {Phil. 
Trans. 18-59.) 

It is well known that fish are out of condition in the 
spawning season, and are then less fit, or even unfit for, 
food. Sir Eobert Christison shows the deteriorated 
state of salmon at that period by the following analysis 
of equal parts of the dorsal and abdominal flesh : per 
cent. — 

No. 37. 

Clean ... Oil 18-53 Nitrogenous 19-69 Salts 088 Water 6089 
Foul . . . „ 1-25 „ 17-07 „ 0-88 „ 80-8 

Hence, whilst there is a diminished proportion of nitro- 
genous matter in the flesh of the foul fish, the chief 
deterioration is in the quantity of oil, which is reduced 
by 17 per cent., and is replaced by water. Whether, 
therefore, we consider the reduced nutritive value of the 
food, or the destruction of an animal which in a few 
months would have yielded twice the amount of food, 
the use of foul fish is properly forbidden. 

Nothing, perhaps, could be more striking than the 
contrast of the same fish in its clean and foul state, as 
shown by the painted casts of Mr. Frank Buckland. 

A member of the family of Salmonidce, the capeliriy 



FISH. 109 

which is as large as a smelt, abounds in shoals in the 
Arctic seas, and might be largely imported into this 
country. 

Prof. Gulliver, F.R.S., makes the following remarks 
on edible sharks, better known as ' Canterbury gur- 
nets ' : — 

' E-isso, the ichthyologist of Nice, says that the porbeagle is 
good eating, and thus much used and esteemed by the people 
of the Mediterranean. Some of the smaller members of the 
shark family afford an almost constant and very bountiful 
supply of valuable food to the poor people of the Shetlands 
and Hebrides and other parts, and at Canterbury may occa- 
sionally be seen loads of skinned fresh fish, each about 18 in. 
long and 2 in. thick. They are commonly brought up North- 
gate into the city, where they are sold, under the fictitious 
name of " gurnets," as cheap food, which is said to be agree- 
able and wholesome. They belong to a small species of shark, 
known at Hastings as Robin Hursts, elsewhere as rough 
Hounds, and to naturalists as the small spotted Dog-fish — 
Scylh'um canicula. At Canterbury these fish always arrive 
decapitated, gutted, and skinned, probably to conceal what 
they really are, and to serve the cabinet-makers, who are said 
to use the skins to smooth down or polish the surface of their 
work. This fish, under the name of morghi, is commonly used 
in the west of Cornwall for soup, which is much liked by the 
natives. The Pricked Dog-fish or Hoe (Spinax acanthias), so 
abundant as to be contemptuously rejected on the Sussex 
coast, is considered valuable as diet in the Scottish islands, 
where these fish are dried for this use, and a large and profit- 
able quantity of oil obtained from their livers ; and in the 
west of England the same fish is used and much valued as 
excellent aliment, both fresh and salted, by the fishermen and 
others. The smooth-hooped or skate-toothed Shark (Mustela 
laivis), a fish about a yard long, is esteemed as delicate food in 
the Hebrides. And indeed, when we consider the constant 
abundance of food and oil for man offered by the small sharks, 
it seems lamentable that they are so much despised and wasted 
on most parts of our coasts.' 



110 NITEOGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

The market value of fish differs extremely with the 
season, weather, and kind of fish ; but, under ordinary 
circumstances, fresh, herring offers the largest amount 
of nutriment for a given sum of money of any kind of 
animal food. A fresh herring weighing 4 J ounces, and 
costing ^d., contains 240 grains of carbon and 36 grains 
of nitrogen ; and a dried herring, weighing 3 ounces, 
and costing fcZ., contains 269 grains of carbon and 
41 grains of nitrogen. The largest and best flavoured' 
herrings are obtained from Loch Fyne. 

Hence, herring is of great value to the poor man, 
whilst salmon, which centuries ago was the poor man's 
food, is of all fish the most to be desired for the richer 
classes ; and whilst the former is abundant without the 
aid of man, the latter demands the protection of the 
law that it may increase. The cost of the former is 
scarcely under the control of man, whilst that of the 
latter may be greatly reduced as the supply increases, 
and the present monopoly in its capture and sale is 
broken up. Perhaps no subject, in reference to food, 
demands and will repay greater care in production, and 
freedom in sale. 

The most delicate of all kind of fish is probably the 
whitebait, when properly cooked and served ; but it is 
said that the smelt, when newly caught in the Humber, 
is almost its rival in that quality. 

The lamprey, which was so commonly eaten in the 
middle ages, is now rarely mentioned, but it may be 
obtained, and is an agreeable food. 

Eels are a luscious and favourite dish whenever they can 
be obtained. Those from Ballyshannon, and other Irish 
rivers, are accounted the best in this country, inasmuch 
as the flavour of them is rich and agreeable and their 
size convenient. Those of the fenny districts of Lincoln- 
shire and Cambridgeshire, and from Holland, which are 



FISH. Ill 

found in the dykes, are alSo good, but their size is com- 
monly less than those above mentioned. They are found 
chiefly in comparatively still waters, w^here there is a 
deep deposit of mud, and particularly in the great 
lagoons of the Adriatic, whence, under the name of 
Capitone, an enormous quantity of large repulsive-look- 
ing eels are obtained. More than one million pounds 
are imported into Naples alone every year, for the fish 
is the national dish of both rich and poor. A more 
striking idea of numbers of living things than that 
derived from the young eels as they ascend the rivers 
in Ireland can scarcely be conceived. The sides of the 
river seem to be a solid mass of wriggling lines, stretched 
out for miles in length. 

The use of fish by the Jews was greatly restricted, 
for the prohibition extended to all fish without scales and 
fins. * These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters : 
all that have fins and scales shall ye eat : and whatso- 
ever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is 
unclean to you.' — Deut. xiv. 9 and 10. * Whatso- 
ever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be 
an abomination unto you.' — Lev. xi. 12. Hence cod, 
whiting, eel, and all kinds of shell-fish are forbidden. 

It may also be added, that the aborigines of Britain 
objected to eat fish, whilst they were not unwilling 
to eat seals and porpoises (doubtless without enquiring 
into classification), and recipes of the fourteenth century 
are still extant, which prescribe the proj)er mode of 
cooking those creatures. 

Fish is prepared for the table in every known mode 
of cooking, but most frequently by boiling, and much 
pains are taken by cooks to garnish it and to provide 
suitable sauces. Very commonly it is cooked in the 
mass, but sometimes in slices. The preparation of the 
slices is called crimping, and should be j)erformed 



112 NITROQENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

immediately after the fish ha's been caught, and before 
the rigor mortis has set in. The flesh is then easily 
divided, and there is a slimy or creamy fluid l}ing 
between the layers of muscles. In this state, the flesh 
of salmon is said to be curdy, and is believed to be 
more digestible and to possess a more delicate flavour 
than at any other; but it passes ofl* in a very short 
time. 

Opinions differ as to the advantage of keeping any 
kind of fish for twenty-four hours before it is eaten ; and 
whilst some affirm that the flavour is increased by the 
delay, the majority of people prefer to eat nearly all 
kinds at the earliest possible moment after capture. 
Our own opinion coincides with the latter view ; and 
in order to retain fish alive until they are required 
for the table it is desirable to adopt the plan in use in 
certain parts of Wales, and on the Continent in refer- 
ence to fresh- water fish — that of placing them in a box 
or tank, through which a stream of water constantly 
flows, or in an enclosed part of the sea, iu reference to 
sea-water fish. 

Salmon when eaten almost immediately after capture 
is still called Calver Salmon in Lancashire, and in 
that state it was eaten by our forefathers. Recipes of 
the fourteenth century mention Calwar Salmon, which 
was prepared with almonds, rice, milk, and pepper. 

The recipe for a Lenten fish-soup of the same period 
may be of interest : — 

' Take the blode of pykes oth' of cong (conger eel) and nyme 
the paiic'h of pykes, of cong and of grete code lyng, andbolle 
he tendre and mynce he smale and do he i that blode. take 
crust' of white brede and styne it thurgh a cloth, thenne 
take oynons iboiled and mynced. take pep and safron wyne. 
Vyneg ay sell oth' aleg and do th'to and sue forth.' 

Jellies of fish and flesh were in common use in the 



FISH. 113 

middle ages, and probably at the Conquest. The fol- 
lowing recipe of the fourteenth century possesses an 
interest, since it shows that fish was in use earlier than 
Henry YII.'s reign : — 

' GrELE Oh' FtSSH. 

' Take Tench, eelys, pykes, turbut and plays, kerue (carve) 
he (to) pecys. scalds he and waische he clene. drye he w* 
a cloth, do he i a pane, do th'to (thereto) half vyneg and 
half wyne and seethe it wel. and take the Fyssche and pike it 
clene. cole (strain) the broth thurgh a cloth ito an erthen pane, 
do th'to powdo of pep (pepper) and safroii ynowh. lat it 
seethe and skym it wel whan it is ysode. dof (do of) th® 
grees clene, cowche fisshe on chargeos and cole the sewe 
thorow a cloth onoward and sue it forth.' 

The roe of fish whether fresh or dried is esteemed 
a luxury, and is also nutritious. The dried roe of the 
salmon and cod is very commonly eaten in this country ; 
whilst in Eussia the roe of the sturgeon and allied 
fishes is preferred, and the preparation and sale of it is 
now a large branch of trade, under the name of caviare. 
A similar preparation, from the roe of the cod and other 
fish, is also ea,ten in Sweden and other parts of northern 
Europe, under the same name. 

Fish are generally pickled in a very simple manner, 
since they are rubbed with salt, and thrown into a cask, 
with layers of rough salt, until the cask is filled, and in 
this state they will keep for some weeks. This is the 
usual mode of treating herrings, but large fish, as cod, 
are cut open, and salted both on the inside and outside. 

A favourite mode of pickling pilchards in Cornwall is 
much more complicated. Those fishes are cut open, 
and have their heads, tails, and fins cut away, after 
which they are washed, and rubbed on the inside 
with salt, and vai^ious kinds of pej^per and other 
spices. They are then placed in layers in a jar, sepa- 



114 NITROGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

rated by bay leaves, salt, and spices, and so laid, layer 
on layer, until the jar is filled, after wbicli they are 
covered with vinegar, tied over, and exposed to a gentle 
heat for several hours. So prepared, they will keep 
several weeks, and are a savoury as well as good food. 

Salmon is often preserved by being cut open, salted, 
and dried in smoke, and is a good and agreeable food. 
Haddocks are slightly salted and dried, and herrings 
are smoked and dried, as well as salted. 

According to Frankland's experiments, ten grains of 
whiting, when entirely consumed in the body, j)roduce 
heat sufficient to raise 2*32 lbs. of water 1° F., which 
is equal to lifting 1,569 lbs. one foot high. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

SHELL-FISH AND TURTLE. 



This class may be conveniently subdivided as foods into 
gelatinous and fibrinous, the former being molluscs, and 
represented by the oyster, mussel, whelk, and cockle, 
which are soft, and easily masticated and digested ; and 
the latter crustaceans, represented by the lobster, cray- 
fish, and crab, which abound in true muscular fibre, and 
are less easy to masticate or digest. 

The whole class is very extensive, and embraces mem- 
bers unknown to our markets, but everywhere regarded 
as a luxurious rather than as a necessary food. Oysters 
although of one species only, the Ostrea edulis, differ 
greatly in size and flavour. They were eaten by our 
forefathers in the middle ages, if not earlier, and are 



SHELL-FISH AND TURTLE. 115 

found on many parts of the coast of Great Britain and 
France, where they are more carefully protected and 
cultivated than heretofore. The most delicate in flavour 
are called Natives, and grow more particularly off 
the coast at Whitstable ; but owing to their great scar- 
city and very high price, a variety has been imported 
from America, the Ostrea Canadensis^ which is an excel- 
lent substitute, and costs scarcely half so much. The 
importation has already assumed considerable propor- 
tions, and it is desirable for both countries that it 
should be yet greatly increased. 

The historians of Alexander's expedition state that 
there were oysters a foot long in India, and Sir J. 
Emerson Tennent found them in Ceylon 11 inches by 
5 inches. The largest which are known in our markets 
do not attain to more than half that size, and although 
containing a far greater amount of nutritive matter 
than the small Whitstable oyster, their flavour is not 
so delicate, and they are much cheaper than the smaller 
variety. 

The oyster abounds in the mangrove swamps of Zan- 
zibar and other Eastern countries, and a well-flavoured 
variety is found in Chumbi Island. 

Oyster-beds are found in estuaries, or other places on 
the coast, where the sea is tolerably quiet and the 
water not very salt, and where there are supports to 
which the oysters may attach themselves. Their extent 
may be very great, and whilst it is probable that there 
are an infinite number of such beds at present unknown 
to us, we are acquainted with enormous banks on the 
coast of Georgia, and know that even mouths of the sea 
have been closed by them. The oyster is hermaphrodite, 
and produces young by millions, so that the shallow 
seas might well be filled with them if all the product 
lived and in their turn produced oysters; but, in fact, only 



116 NITROGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

a few in a million succeed in attaching themselves to 
the parent shells, or to rocks, or to pieces of wood, sea- 
weeds, or clumps of reeds or grass, so as to remain in the 
bed, whilst an infinite number become detached, and 
die, or are eaten by fish, reptiles, and birds. The great 
oyster-beds of Georgia are called racoon-banks, because 
the racoon frequents them in search of the oyster as 
food. 

When an oyster-bed has been discovered, it has 
usually been impoverished, and sometimes destroyed, 
by continued and careless dredging, so that too great a 
proportion of oysters has been removed to enable the 
bed to be maintained. Laws regulating this fishery 
have been in force for nearly 500 years ; but more 
stringent ones have now been established, and, with 
the influence of public opinion and self-interest, will 
probably restore our supply of this favourite luxury. 

Artificial beds have been prepared from the time of 
Sergius Grata, who established them at Baise, to our 
own day, when the French have converted the shores of 
a whole island (the Isle of Re) into oyster beds, and 
our own countrymen are adopting the same expedient. 

The oyster is not a food of high nutritive value, but 
is nevertheless useful to the sick, whilst its delicacy 
of flavour leads to its selection when other foods are 
rejected. 

The more usual mode is to eat it when uncooked, 
and it is very doubtful whether cooking increases its 
digestibility. It is, however, possible that the flavour 
of scalloped may be preferred to that of the raw 
oysters, or that the vinegar which is usually eaten with 
the latter may be disliked or may disagree with the 
stomach, but with such exceptions the usual method 
of eating them raw is to be preferred. When oysters 
are to be cooked it is needless to obtain those of the 



SHELL-FISH AND TURTLE. 117 

finest quality, for the flavour is in great part changed 
by the cooking, and a larger and coarser oyster is 
equally good. 

Mussels, cockles, whelks, limpets, and scallops, are 
cheap and abundant, and are commonly eaten by the 
poorer classes. 

Lobsters and crayfish were known to and eaten by 
our ancestors at least 400 years ago, and in a recipe of 
the date of 1581, it is directed to roast the lobster in 
its shell in an oven or in a pan and eat it with vinegar. 
They rank higher in price and are certainly more deli- 
cate in flavour than crabs, but at the same time they 
are tougher and more difficult to masticate and digest. 
It may be doubted whether there are any foods which 
are so little desirable in a sanitary point of view, or which 
so frequently cause indigestion, yet they are extremely 
popular as a change of food and a luxury, and are as 
agreeable to the eater as useful to the doctor. They 
consist chiefly of muscular fibre which is not rich in oil, 
so that they are most frequently eaten with oil and con- 
diments in the form of lobster salad, and should be cut 
into very thin slices and well masticated. 

The crab offfers a much larger proportion of non- 
inuscular material than the lobster, and is fuller of 
flavour and more easily masticated. It is believed to 
be also somewhat difficult of digestion, and the flavour 
is apt to repeat itself in the mouth for many hours after 
the food has been eaten, but it cannot be so difficult of 
digestion as the tough tail of the lobster or crayfish. 
The muscular structures in the limbs are also less tough 
than in lobsters, but they elude the teeth and are not 
perfectly masticated with ease. 

Hence we are of opinion that whilst crab is cheaper, 
it is much to be preferred to lobster as a food, if not as 
a luxury. 



118 NITEOGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

All the kinds referred to require the aid of condi- 
ments, if not of a stimulating liquor, to promote their 
digestion, and unless thej are perfectly fresh it is desir- 
able to correct the ammoniacal salts by an acid. A 
composition of olive oil, pepper, mustard, and vinegar 
is a very suitable adjunct to the flesh when eaten. 

Turtle {Chelonia), v^hicli is so costly and favourite a 
food here, is neither scarce nor good in the tropical 
countries where it is produced. The number of these 
creatures lying on the sandy banks when depositing 
their eggs, or floating in the shallow bay, is almost 
infinite, so that they might be the sole animal food of 
the inhabitants of those regions, but neither the people 
who live among them, nor sailors who remain there 
temporarily, can continue to eat them. 

Mr. Bates, in his very interesting work, ' The Natu- 
ralist on the River Amazon,' writes : — 

* The abundance of turtles, or rather the facility with which 
they can be found and caught, varies with the amount of an- 
nual subsidence of the waters. When the river sinks less 
than the average, they are scarce ; but when more, they can be 
caught in plenty, the bays and shallow lagoons in the forests 
having then only a small depth of water. The flesh is very 
tender, palatable and wholesome ; but it is very cloying ; every 
one ends sooner or later by becoming thoroughly surfeited. I 
became so sick of turtle in the course of two years, that I 
could not bear the smell of it, although at the same time 
nothing else was to be had, audi was sufiering actual hunger.' 

With such testimony, how may we explain the 
favour with which it has always been received by 
civilised nations, and the price which is paid for 
it ? Simply by the mode of preparation for the table. 
The flesh is never served separately, but is made into 
soup with a great variety of condiments, recherche wines, 
like Madeira, and other agreeable adjuncts, and with 



SHELL-FISH AND TUKTLE. 119 

nigli culinary skill. The soup so prepared is doubtless 
luscious and rich, if not easily digestible ; but if, instead 
of being rare and costly, it were a constant and cheap 
dish, as it might be on tropical coasts, the appetite 
would soon reject it, and disease rather than health 
would follow its use. It must also be added that, as at 
present consumed, it is accompanied by costly viands 
and wines, which lend a gourmand's charm to the 
entertainment. 

The expedients which are adopted by the natives in 
cooking it, with a view to keep their appetite for it, are 
w^orthy of note. Mr. Bates says : — 

' The native women cook it in various ways. The entrails 
are chopped up and made into a delicious soup, called sara- 
2) at el, which is generally boiled in the concave upper shell of 
the animal, used as a kettle. The tender flesh of the breast 
is partially minced with farina, and the breast shell then roasted 
over the fire, making a very pleasant dish. Steaks cut from 
the breast and cooked with the fat, form another palatable 
dish. Large sausages are made of the thick- coated stomach, 
which is filled with minced meat and boiled. The quarters 
cooked in a kettle of Tucupi sauce, form another variety of food 
When surfeited with turtle in all other shapes, pieces of the 
lean part, roasted on a spit and moistened over with vinegar, 
make an agreeable change.' 

There are numerous varieties of turtle which are fit 
for food, but that which is the most agreeable in 
flavour and is alone imported into this country is the 
green turtle (Chelonia My das) which abounds in the 
West India Islands. The edible turtle (Chelonia vir^ 
gata) and the Hawkbill turtle {Caretta imhricata) in- 
habiting the Indian Ocean, the estuaries of the Indian 
coast as well as the southern shores of the Atlantic, are 
also weU known and valued both for their flesh and 
Bhell. 



120 NITKOaENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

The eggs of tlie turtle are eagerly sought after in the 
countries where the turtle is found, and while fresh are 
doubtless good food, but as they are hatched in the 
warm sand they soon lose their freshness and are no 
longer fit for food. 



CHAPTEE XYIL 

CHEESE AND CREAM CHEESE. 



Cheese is obtained exclusively from the milk of 
animals, and its quality varies with the class, breed and 
appropriateness of the food of the animal and the pro- 
cess of manufacture. It was well known to the ancients, 
and is mentioned by Homer, Euripides, Theocritus, 
and Aristotle, and in the 1st Book of Samuel, where 
David, nearly 3,000 years ago, was directed to take ten 
cheeses to the captain of his brethren (1 Sam. xvii. 18). 

The most ordinary source of cheese is the milk of the 
cow, and there are certain varieties of cows which pro- 
duce much cheese and little butter, as there are others 
of the contrary qualities. The kind of pasture is so 
important that certain farms in the cheese-making dis- 
tricts are prized for the cheese which they yield, and 
obtain greater rentals accordingly. But cheese is some- 
what largely made from goats' milk on the continent of 
Europe, and from the milk of camels and mares in the 
Arabian deserts. 

The mode of preparation varies as to the application 
of heat, the duration of the process, and the kind of 
milk which is used ; and it is said that to this more than 
to any other separate cause is to be attributed the excel- 
lence of the Stilton cheese and the product of other 
famous cheese-producing districts. 



CHEESE AND CEEAM CHEESE. 121 

The essential constituent is casein or the curd ; which 
when pure consists of the following elements in 100 
parts, and is the sole source of the nitrogen in which 
cheese so much abounds : — 

No. 38. 
C. 53-83 0. 22-52 H. 7-15 N. 15-65 

Casein alone is very difficult of mastication and 
digestion when dry and eaten alone, and is not very 
tempting to the palate. It is, however, rarely made for 
nse in that form, for when prepared from the most care- 
fully skimmed milk there will be some admixture of 
butter and the usual proportion of salts in milk, and 
when fresh and moist is an agreeable food. 

Samples of cheese differ chiefly in the quantity of 
butter which they contain, and in the flavour which is due 
to the food as well as to the nature of the cow. The 
best is made from new and unskimmed milk, so 
that nearly all the butter of the milk is incorporated 
with the casein in the production of a fat and rich 
cheese, and in making Stilton cheese a further quantity 
of cream is or should be added. When skimmed milk 
is used the cheese contains very little butter, and is 
called poor, so that according to the richness of the milk 
in casein and cream is the richness of the cheese. A 
proper admixture of the milk of different cows is one 
of the arts of cheese-making. 

The process of cheese-making really consists in gently 
warming the milk and causing the curd to be separated 
by the addition of an acid. The acid used in this 
country is that of the rennet, which is the dried stomach 
of the calf, whilst in Holland it is muriatic acid. The 
curd is connected with the cream or globules of oil 
which pervade new milk, and the whole is separated by 
means of a sieve and placed in a mould, where it is sub- 



122 NITEOaENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

ject to pressure until it has become consolidated into 
one mass, after which, it is turned out of the mould and 
laid upon a shelf or the floor to drj. The teraperatui-e 
of the cheese room should not be too low, and in order 
to mature the cheese more perfectly and -"'apidly, it is 
customary, as in the Stilton-cheese district to heat 
the room artificially and to maintain a tolerably equal 
temperature of 65° to 70° by night and day for several 
months. During the process the cheese is turned over 
every day or two and kept perfectly clean. 

The stock of cheese is sold off at the end of the 
summer, and although that which was made in the 
early part of the winter may then be ready for use, that 
made during the summer is improved by being kept still 
longer. It is matter of opinion as to when cheese is 
in its most perfect condition ; but when it is new it is 
tough and when old it is rancid, and experience has 
assigned an age varying from nine to twenty months. 

The poorer and cheaper kinds of cheese are largely 
eaten in substitution of meat by the poor labourers 
in South Wales, Somerset, Wilts, Dorset, and other 
counties ; but in districts where meat is obtainable by 
the poor and the quality of the cheese is good, as in 
Yorkshire, this habit does not prevail. 

Luxurious kinds of cheese, as the Gruyere and Par- 
mesan, are made from goats' milk or an admixture of 
goats' and cows' milk, and a certain degree of fermen- 
tation is allowed in the process of manufacture. They 
are not in any degree superior as food to our Cheshire 
or Stilton cheese ; but their mildness of flavour and a 
certain character of texture fit them for the preparation 
of macaroni and other foods. 

The natural colour of cheese is a dingy white, and 
when cheese is highly coloured there has been an ad- 
dition of annatto or other colouring matter. The green 



CHEESE AND CREAM CHEESE. 123 

colour of Stilton cheese is due to a vegetable growth ; 
but there are some kinds of cheese which are rendered 
green by the addition of powdered sage leaves. 

The value of cheese as an article of diet has not been 
entirely established. If we consider it in its chemical 
composition we find it very rich, richer than any other 
known food, in nutritive elements, provided we select 
a good specimen ; but this varies, as has already been 
pointed out, with the conditions of its manufacture. 
The poorer the cheese the greater is the proportion of 
the casein or nitrogenous element, whilst the richer 
the cheese the greater is the proportion of fat or 
butter which it contains ; but in either case the propor- 
tion of nitrogenous matter in a given weight far exceeds 
that of meat. 

There is, however, a long standing belief that cheese 
is not easily digested, and in fact, that of any given 
quantity much will pass off by the bowels unused, and 
so far as this is true its nutritive value is lessened. 
That it is true has been repeatedly proved by us when 
determining the amount of nitrogenous matter which 
appears in the fseces after eating cheese ; but it is very 
probable that this will be less in one who from infancy 
has eaten it daily than in one but little accustomed to 
its use. 

In my own experiments it was shown that the use of 
cheese caused an increased excretion of nitrogen by the 
kidneys as well as by the bowels, which proved that 
part of it was digested and transformed in the system 
and part passed off unchanged. 

There is a popular belief formulated by Shakspeare,^ 
when he makes Achilles say, ' Why my cheese, my 
digestion,' that cheese although ditticult of digestion 
promotes the digestion of other foods, and this was 

' TroUiis and Cressida, act II. scene 3. 



124 NITKOGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

shown in my experiments by the increased quantity of 
carbonic acid which was eliminated by the hmgs under 
its influence. 

There is, therefore, good reason to consider that this 
belief is well founded, and that whilst it may be proper 
to eat a small portion of cheese, both for the nutriment 
which it supplies and for the promotion of digestion, it 
is not proper to eat a large quantity or to make it a 
principal article of food and a substitute for meat. 

The chemical composition of cheese varies so much 
that it is not easy to state it with great precision, but if 
we take a poor cheese made from skim milk and a good 
cheese made from new milk we shall obtain tolerably 
correct results. Thus the proximate composition, in 100 
parts, is as follows : — 

No. 39. 

Skim milk cheese . . . Water 44 Nitrogenous 44-8 Fat 6-3 Salt 4*9 
Very good new milk cheese „ 36 „ 28'4 ,, 31-1 „ 4-5 

The quantity of carbon and nitrogen in 1 lb. of mode- 
rately good cheese is 2,660 grains of the former and 
315 grains of the latter, showing how rich is this sub- 
stance in nitrogen. If the free hydrogen be reckoned 
as carbon the former quantity' of carbon becomes 3,283 
grains per pound. 

Professor Voelcher found that the poorer kind of skim 
milk cheese yielded 2,345 grains of carbon and 364*3 
grains of nitrogen per pound, the former made up of the 
following items ; — 

No. 40. 



Butter 


611-2 grains of carbon 


Casein 


. 1,250-5 


Lactic acid . 


. 484 



Payen gives the following as the composition of the 
cheese of different counties, in 100 parts : — 



CHEESE AND CREAM CHEESE. 



125 



No. 41. 









Water 


Nitrogen 


Fat 


Salt 


Chester . . . .30-39 


5-56 


25-41 


4-78 


Marolles 






40-07 


3-73 


28-73 


5-93 


Roquefort 






26-53 


5-07 


32-31 


4-45 


Holland . 






. 41-41 


4-10 


25-06 


6-21 


Gruyeres 






32-05 


5-40 


28-40 


4-29 


Parmesan 






30-31 


5-48 


21-68 


7-09 


Bi-ie 






63-99 


2-39 


24-83 


5-63 


Neufchatel 






. 61-87 


2-28 


18-74 


4-25 



111 mj experiments (IN'o. 124) the effect of eating the 
casein from one pint of new milk was to cause a maxi- 
mum increase of 1*34 and '92 grain of carbonic acid 
in the expired air, with an increase of 28 cubic inches 
per minute of the air inspired. It is, however, curious to 
note that my colleague in the experiment had no in- 
crease ; and in, explanation, it may be added that he 
dislikes cheese and says that it does not agree with him. 
It is not at all improbable, from what has already been 
stated, that cheese may produce different effects on dif- 
ferent persons, and that the effect will bear some 
relation to the desire for it. {Fliil. Trans. 1860.) 

The time required for the digestion of cheese varies 
with its age and as the fat more or less abounds ; and 
in a fairly good cheese of medium age it is from three 
and a half to four hours. New cheese and poor cheese 
require a longer time for digestion, inasmuch as they 
are masticated with greater difficulty. Old poor cheese 
also requires a longer time, for it is so hard as to be 
almost incapable of solution in the gastric juices, and 
if a good cheese be old and greatly decayed it plays the 
part of an irritant in the stomach which may cause a 
form of indigestion, and be itself hurried through the 
stomach into the intestines so rapidly as to almost pre- 
vent its digestion. 

It is probable that the establishment of cheese 



126 NITROGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

factories in America and in this country will tend to 
produce cheese of more uniform quality. There are 
now nearly 2,000 such factories in the United States, 
and three or four have been opened in England during 
the last five years. It is necessary for their success that 
there should be good pasture land and plenty of water in 
the vicinity, and that the farmers should be able to take 
their milk to the factory while it is yet fresh and new. 
The manufacture of cheese by small farmers is not 
always effected in the most cleanly manner, neither 
with the uncertainty of seasons is it always lucrative. 

Ten grains of good cheese when consumed in the 
body produce heat sufficient xo raise 11-2 lbs. of water 
1° F. which is equal to lifting 8,649 lbs. one foot 
high. 

Cream Cheese. 

Cream cheese is also practically found of two quali- 
ties and in two conditions. It usually appears in the 
London market as new curd containing but little fat, 
and placed upon straws. If eaten in this state there 
is but little flavour of cheese, whilst the prevailing 
flavour is that of the whey which is allowed to abound 
in it. After a few days the process of decomposition 
beo"ins, and the cheese assumes a less solid but more 
creamy appearance, whilst its flavour is richer than 
before. As this proceeds an odour of a very disagree- 
able kind arises, and ultimately the cheese assumes a 
semi-fluid or fluid aspect, and is ofi'ensive to both the 
senses of smell and taste. The proper course is not to 
eat it until the process has begun. 

The cream cheese wliich is produced in Lincolnshire 
is far richer in quality than that now referred to, and 
has a very agreeable flavour. It may also be kept for a 



CHEESE AND CREAM CHEESE. 127 

longer time without becoming offensive, but as it is 
ready for use early it is not usual to keep it. 

Some foreign kinds, as I»J"eufcliateI cheese, which 
is imported in little pillars, somewhat resembles the 
Lincolnshire cheese in quality, and when exposed to the 
air does not run into a liquid but gradually shrinks and 
dries up. Yet the outside may become soft and yield an 
offensive odour. This cheese is rarely obtained until it 
has been kept for some time, and not unfrequently 
vegetable growths occur in it and on it before it can be 
eaten. 

Cream cheese is more digestible than ordinary cheese, 
both because it is softer and may be readily masticated, 
and has a less proportion of casein. It is, moreover, 
probable that the process is effected in from two to 
three hours. 



/3 Non-Nitrogenous. 



CHAPTER XYIII. 

BUTTER, GHEE, LAUD, DRIPPING, AKD OILS. 

The non-nitrogenous animal foods are very numerous, 
but belong to only one class, viz., fats, and as they have 
much similarity in composition and action, it will not 
be requisite to refer to them at great length. 

It is desirable to premise that fats which are used as 
food are naturally divided into two sub-classes, differing 
as to the temperature at which they remain fluid; so 
that at one temperature we have solid fats and at 
another oils ; but it is needful to add further, that even 
such fats as are solid at a given temperature contain also 



128 NON-NITROGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

oil whicli, when separated, remains fluid. Hence the 
division of the two great classes of fats into stearine or 
margarine and oleine. 

In treating this subject it will not be necessary to 
refer to the great advances which chemistry has made 
in determining the nature of fatty compounds, and 
which have brought to light a vast number of substances 
which were unknown at the time when Chevreul made 
the researches which are still the foundation of our 
knowledge of fats, for they have little bearing upon the 
subject of food. It will suffice, if we proceed to indicate 
those animal fatty substances which are commonly 
used as food. 

Butter. 

Butter was unknown to the ancient Greeks, as may 
be inferred from the absence of any reference to it by 
Homer or Aristotle. It was also unknown to the 
aborigines of these islands, and was not in common use 
in England until after the fourteenth century, whilst to 
this day it is less frequently eaten by barbarous than 
civilised nations. 

It is obtained from milk, and chiefly from that of the 
cow, in which it exists as minute globules scattered 
through the whole substance so long as the fluid is in 
motion, but when at rest it rises to the surface and 
constitutes cream. It is separated generally by churning, 
but in a rougher and readier way by heating the milk 
and shaking it, as in India, Texas, and other very hot 
countries, where the labour of churning is not desired 
and waste of butter and milk not important. 

It is the best known of all this class of sub- 
stances, but it is eaten in very difi'erent quantities ; 
from the large cupful before breakfast, as drank 
by the Bedouins near the Hed Sea and the Persian 



BUTTER, GHEE, LARD, DRIPPING, AND OILS. 129 

Gulf, to the scarce!}^ perceptible layer on the bread 
eaten by the needlewomen of London, and the supply is 
limited by pecuniary means rather than desire. It 
is also the form of separated fat which is less frequently 
disliked by consumptive people and invalids generally, 
as was shown by me in an enquiry into the state of 1,000 
patients at the Hospital for Consumption, Brompton.' 

The flavour, however, differs according to the animal 
from which the milk was derived, so that butter from 
the bison in Egypt and India, and from the goat, has 
a strong taste ; but it also varies with the food of the 
animal, and is much stronger when the cow is fed on 
turnips than on grass or hay. In like manner the 
colour varies both with the animal and its food, so that it 
may be nearly white or very yellow ; but a false colour 
is sometimes given by the addition of annatto. 

Some of the milk-preserving factories in the United 
States of America are also butter factories, and may 
ere long supply no inconsiderable part of our best 
butters. On their mode of preparation and preservation 
of butter, Mr. Willard has supplied information in the 
columns of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society 
for 1872, from which we shall make a few extracts. 

He states that during the churning it is thought 
desirable to keep the cream from rising above 60° F. 
When the churns are started the temperature of the 
cream should be about 56° F. ; and it has been found 
that the best results are obtained when the dashers 
make from 40 to 42 strokes per minute. At this 
rate of stroke and no less than one hour being con- 
sumed in the process of churning, if the temperature 
of the cream be kept below 60° F., or no higher than 
that, the butter will come of good colour and texture, 

' ' Tubercular Consumption : its early and remediable stages.' — Henry Si, 
King (Sc'Co., Coruhill. 



130 NON-NITROGENOTJS ANIMAL FOODS. 

and will be in the right condition for a first- class fancy- 
product,' at least, so far as it can be made by the 
operation of churning'. It is important, of course, that 
the cream be in the proper condition when it goes to 
the churn ; but the manner in which the churning is 
conducted has a much greater influence upon the pro- 
duct than many people imagine. 

The agitation of the cream over the whole mass 
should be as even and uniform as possible, in order 
that all of it may be turned into butter at about the 
same time. If the agitation be too rapid, or if it be 
unevenly distributed through the mass, a part will be 
transformed into butter whilst some will remain un- 
changed, and by the time the whole mass is churned 
the particles of butter first formed will have been 
beaten up in the agitation so as to injure the texture ; 
or portions of unchanged cream may become mingled 
with the butter, thereby not only lessening the quantity 
of butter from a given quantity of cream, but materially 
injuring its quality. Again, in order to preserve a nice 
flavour and colour, as well as fine texture, the mass of 
cream while churning must not be allowed to rise to a 
high temperature. 

Great care is taken, by the use of very simple means, 
to wash all the buttermilk out of the butter. ' The 
batch of butter,' or the ' churning,' say of about twenty 
to twenty-five pounds in weight, is laid upon the butter- 
worker and water applied from a sprinkler or small 
watering-pot. It is provided with a rose-nozzle, so as 
to distribute the water over the mass in numberless 
small streams. The watering-pot is held in the left 
hand, and the butter is worked with the right hand at 
the same time by applying the lever, going rapidly from 
one side of the mass to the other. The butter being 
on the inclined slab or bed-piece of the butter-worker, 



BUTTER, GHEE, LA.RD, DRIPPINa, AND OILS. 131 

the butter-milk flows off readily, and by a few move- 
ments of the lever the butter-milk is expelled. When 
the water flows from the mass without being discoloured, 
the process of washing is completed. The water falling 
in a spray over the whole surface of the butter cools it, 
and gives the proper degree of hardness for working 
with the lever, a point of considerable importance, 
especially in hot weather. 

On the subject of preserving butter by salt and salt- 
petre, he states that at the Orange County factories, 
the following recipe is used, viz. :— For every 22 lbs. 
of butter, 16 ounces of salt, one teaspoonful of salt- 
petre, and a tablespoonful of the best powdered white 
sugar; and the butter makers of that part of the 
country claim, that by the use of saltpetre the butter 
will retain its flavour and keep sound longer in hot 
weather than when it is not used. 

The mode in which butter is packed for transport 
and keeping materially affects its preservation, and Mr. 
C. H. White, of Michigan, has invented a tub which 
deserves notice. The tubs are 14 inches in diameter at 
the to^), and ^ inches at the bottom, and about 16 inches 
high. They are well made, of oak, with strong hoops, 
and with heads at both ends. A sack of cotton is made 
to fit the tub for the reception of the butter. It is 
placed in the tub as it stands on the small end, the sides 
of the sack being long enough to extend over the top 
of the tub. 

The butter is packed firmly in this sack until within 
If inch of the top of the tub, when a circular piece 
of cloth is laid on the top of the butter, and the sides 
of the sack are brought over and nicely plaited down 
over the circular cover. A layer of fine salt is now laid 
on the top, the head is put in, and the hoops are driven 
so as to make a perfectly tight fit, that will admit of no 



132 NON-NITKOGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

leakage. The tub is then turned upon the larger head, 
and the butter in the sack drops down upon the larger 
end, leaving a space between it and the sides and 
top of the tub. Strong brine is then poured into it 
through a hole in the head, till it fills the intervening 
space between the tub and the butter, when the hole is 
closed tightly with a cork. The brine thus floats the 
butter, so that it is completely surrounded by the liquid, 
and effectually excluded from the air. 

When the butter is to be used, the tub is turned on 
its small end, the hoops are started, and the large head 
is taken off, after which the butter may be lifted entirely 
off the tub by taking hold of the ends of the sack. It 
may be placed upon a platter or large earthern dish, 
the cloth removed from the top, and the butter cut into 
desirable shapes for the table. If any portion remains, 
it may be returned to the tub, and in this way it can be 
preserved for future use. 

Although butter, when pure, is a fat destitute of nitro- 
genous elements, it is rare to meet with it in that state, 
for if any portion of -the whey be present there will 
be a nitrogenous and decomposing compound. More- 
over, as the flavour of butter changes with the food 
on which the animal is fed, and chemical changes 
rapidly proceed after its production, its elements vary 
within somewhat narrow limits. If butter be so well 
made that no fluid remains in it which could be ex- 
tracted without other artificial means than that of 
pressure, its composition will be tolerably uniform, and 
it will not differ much in its ultimate elements from 
that of the fat of flesh removed from the fat cells. 
In that state it may be kept in a cool place without 
much chemical change for several weeks ; but, in order 
to preserve it, it is customary not only to make it as 
solid as possible, but to mix it in layers with salt, and 



BUTTER, GHEE, LARD, DRIPPING, AND OILS. 138 

when well prepared and the surface kept from exposure 
to the atmosphere bj salt and water, it may be pre- 
served for a year, or indeed for a much longer time, 
without such changes as would render it unfit for 
food. 

If, for the purpose of preservation, it is desired to 
obtain butter free from water, it may be effected by a 
proper application of heat, as is accomplished in Turkey 
and other Eastern countries. When the butter is quite 
fresh it should be placed in a long necked vessel over 
a heat not exceeding 140° F., by which it will rise to 
the surface, as a clear transparent fluid, and should 
be carefully removed. It is then strained through a 
cloth and cooled by immersion in cold water, after 
which it may be mixed with salt and packed closely. 
The action of salt seems to be chiefly that of attracting 
any water which may remain, and in Spain and America 
a little saltpetre is added for the same purpose. It is 
said that sugar has power to prevent the decomposition 
of butter, as will be more particularly stated in our 
observations on preserved milk. 

The proportion of water which is commonly met with 
in butter is from half an ounce to one ounce in the 
pound, according to the care, and perhaps, the honesty 
of the manufacturer; but a larger quantity is said 
to exist in the cheaper kinds. In a report recently 
made by Mr. F. W. Eowsell, on the supply of pro- 
visions to the metropolitan workhouses, Mr. Wanklyn 
found that the quantity of water exceeded two ounces 
in the pound, or twelve and a half per cent., in more 
than one half of the samples submitted to him, as stated 
in the following table : — 



134 



NON-NITEOaENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 



No. 42. 



Per-centage 


Character of 


"Workhouses 


of water 


butter 


St, Saviour's 


12-6 . 


. Fair 


Stepney 


12-7 . 


. Middling 


St. Pancras . 


12-8 . 


. Bad 


Poplar 


12-9 . 


, Very ba,d 


Shoreditch . 


, 13-2 . 


. Bad 


St. Giles . 


13-2 . 


. Tolerably good 


Lambeth 


13-2 . 


. Exceedingly bad 


Fulham 


. 13-1 . 


. Good 


Wandsworth 


13-3 . 


. Very good 


City of London . 


13-7 . 


. Good 


Hackney 


. 14-2 . 


. Good 


St. Olare's . 


. 14-3 . 


. Fair 


St. Luke's, Chelsea 


. 14-5 . 


. Fair 


Camberwell 


. 14-7 . 


. Exceedingly bad 


Shoreditch . 


15-3 . 


. Bad 


Wandsworth 


15-3 . 


. Bad 


St. George's in the East 


15-4 . 


. Bad 


Paddington 


16-0 . 


. Bad 


Stepney 


. 16-5 . 


. Nasty 


Hackney 


. 16-6 . 


. Tolerable 


Marylebone 


. 18-2 . 


do. 


Greenwich , 


. 19-4 . 


. Fair 


Holborn 


19-7 . 


. Middling 


City of London . 


. 20-0 . 


. Bad 


Paddington 


23-6 . 


. Bather rank 


Kensington (salt butter) 


23-7 . 


. Wretched 


Whitechapel 


. 24-9 . 


. Very bad 



Butters are commonly divided into two classes, viz., 
fresh and salt ; but a small proportion of salt, saj half an 
ounce to the pound, is added to the best fresh butter. 
When there is nearly one ounce of salt to the pound the 
butter should be classed as salt, and in that proportion 
exceedingly good butter is imported into this country. 
It is, however, usual to find a larger proportion in the 
salt butters of the shops, and two ounces in the pound 
is not very uncommon. In the report of Mr. Rowsell 
just referred to that quantity was never exceeded; but 
it was approached at Whitechapel, where there was 10*7 
per cent, of salt in the pound. 



BUTTER, GHEE, LARD, DRIPPING, AND OILS. 135 

Besides these two adulterations, it is very common to 
find cheap animal fats, as mutton fat and horse grease 
added to butters, the former to even good but the latter 
to bad butters onl}^ It is also said that palm-tree butter, 
which is used for candles and railway carriage wheels, 
is sometimes added with the like purpose. 

The addition of water or other fluid is determined by 
liquefying the butter, and expelling the fluid by heat, 
when the loss of weight is the required measure of the 
fluid. When the fluid is whej', or other nitrogenous sub- 
stance, an analysis of the butter will be required, if the 
flavour does not sufficiently indicate its character. Salt 
is removed by washing the butter in pure water, when 
the taste of the water will reveal its presence, and the 
loss of weight of the butter indicate its quantity. Care 
must, however, be taken that no appreciable quantity of 
butter remains suspended as oil globules in the water, 
or the weight will be unduly reduced. 

There are no means of distinguishing pure meat fat 
when added to butter, except by the taste, which may 
indicate the absence of the flavour of butter and the 
presence of another flavour not belonging to it; but 
the latter is usually avoided by adding a tasteless fat, 
as that of mutton, assisted by the more penetrating 
flavour of butter. These fats are, however, harder 
than butter, and cannot be perfectly mixed together, 
so as not to be detected by a magnifier, without some 
care. 

Hence, in determining the chemical composition of 
butter, we must regard it as a fat, and it will be 
the same as that of other fats in their natural state. 
Thus, butter and fats consist, in their ultimate ele- 
ments, of — 

No. 43. 
C 77. H 12. Oil. 



136 K ON-NITROGENOUS ANIIVIAL FOODS. 

The proximate elements in 100 j)arts of an average 
sample of butter are as follows : — ^^ 

No. 44. 
Water lo'O Fat 83-0 Salts 2 

The fat consists of 68 per cent, of margarine, or solid 
fat ; 30 per cent, of oleine, or fluid fat ; and 2 per cent, 
of fats, which yield butyric, cuproic, capryolic, capric, 
and other acids, according to the animal from whose 
milk the butter was made. 

Fresh butter has the same amount of carbon per 
pound as suet. 

Ten grains of butter, when burnt in the body, pro- 
duce heat sufficient to raise 18*68 lbs. of water 1° F., 
which is equal to raising 14,421 lbs. one foot high. The 
effect of butter on the respiratory process was very 
small, as shown in Diagram No. 95. 

There are but few instances in which the flavour of 
butter is purposely changed, but the Bedouins in the 
Hedjaz boil herbs with it, with a view to improve it. 

Ghee. 

Ghee is a clarified butter, prepared chiefly from bison's 
milk, and used very largely by the natives of India. 

The milk is first boiled, and on being allowed to cool, 
a little sour milk, called Dhye^ is added, which causes 
coagulation. The mass is then churned, and hot water 
added, and in about an hour butter is produced. After 
a few days the butter becomes rancid ; when it is 
clarified by being boiled with the addition of Dhye and 
salt, or betel-leaf, and is then kept in closed pots for 
use. This form of butter is less free from nitro- 
genous matter than that made in this country, and 
it has a peculiar flavour, which is distasteful to 
Eurvjpeaus. 



BUTTEE, GHEE, LARD, DRIPPING, AND OILS. 137 

The Fat of Flesh. 

The fat of animals is derived from two sources, viz., 
their structures and their secretions, and both are of 
the utmost value to mankind. 

We have already pointed out the proportion in which 
fat is found in animals, and have shown that in a 
well-fed pig or over- fed sheep and ox, it may amount to 
one- third of the whole carcass-weight (page 43). This 
is not restricted to one part of their body only, for there 
is none which does not contain some fat, but it is chiefly 
found in masses within the loins, which are almost 
separated from the flesh, and in layers upon the outside 
of the flesh. 

The former is commonly cut ofi", and sold separately 
from the joint under the name of suet, and is un- 
usually solid, so that it is especially fitted for, and is 
largely and universally used in, culinary operations 
with farinaceous substances. This kind of fat has a 
flavour which is usually less marked than any other in 
the animal, and may be eaten by invalids when ordinary 
meat fat would be rejected, so that it is accounted 
one of the purest and most useful fats in food. The 
latter is usually sold with the joint, and is cooked with 
it, but when the quantity is excessive a portion is cut 
off, and is not used as food for man. Besides these, 
there is fat in the juices of flesh, much of which is 
extracted by cooking, and also in bones and other 
offal, as has been already described. 

When it is found in connection with flesh, or in a 
separate form, it is always enclosed in cells (No. 45), and 
in order to extract it quickly, and with as low a degree 
of heat as possible, the mass should be cut into small 
portions ; but when it is met with in the juices, and in 




138 NON-NITEOaENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

secretions g-enerally, it is unenclosed, and appears as 
globules of various sizes. 

The value of fat in the -animal economy is exceedingly 
great, both chemically and physically. Chemically, it 
^n. 45. supplies the heat-forming ele- 

ments of food in their most 
cor:\pendious form, and is 

/;l„„V||||f|VJ/li,,. „„ K much more rapidly trans- 
.jp<sgC^jfet — ^ \ formed than starch under 
the influence of exertion, 
when a very la,rge elimina- 
tion of carbonic acid takes 
place. We have elsewhere 
rat-cells. intimated the close relation- 

ship which exists between muscular exercise and the 
elimination of carbonic acid on the one hand, and the 
necessity for an increased supply of the hydro-carbons 
on the other, to meet the waste ; but have deferred a 
fuller discussion to the work on Dietaries. There can, 
however, be no doubt that, whether we refer to the inti- 
mate molecular actions in nutrition, to the supply of an 
essential element in growth, or to the daily use of the 
body, it is essential that there should be a full supply of 
fat in some of its forms. 

Physically, its action may be less important, but it is 
most desirable as an addition to bread and farinaceous 
foods generally. It supplies an agreeable flavour, without 
which they could not be readily eaten, and lubricates 
the passages through which the masticated food is the 
more readily conveyed. It is also very probable that it 
exerts an influence in the passage of refuse matter 
throuo^h the bowel ; so that, with some excess of fat, 
the bowels will act more readily than where the dietary 
is deficient in that lubricating substance. 

There is also another physical action, by which it 



BUTTER, GHEE, LARD, DRIPPING, AND OILS. 139 

may act indirectly as a food, although it may not enter 
the body. Thus, when the skm is perspiring too 
actively, either for the wants of the bod}^, or the degree 
in which loss of heat by that process can be borne, free 
inunction into the skin diminishes greatly the loss of 
heat, and thereby the necessity for food. 

We have used this method with remarkable success 
in persons who had almost ceased to eat, and in whom 
it was with the utmost difficulty that the heat of the 
body and the circulation of the blood could be main- 
tained. Moreover, without entering into a theological 
question, it may not be improper to point to this as a 
rational explanation of the use of anointing the sick, 
which has been practised, not as a religious but as a 
sanitary measure, by many Eastern nations, and of the 
habit of anointing the body among many savage 
nations. 

The composition of suet is tolerably uniform, but 
there is a larger quantity of stearine, and less oleine in 
mutton than in beef suet. There are 4,760 grains of 
carbon in a pound; and if the free hydrogen be 
reckoned as carbon, the quantity will be increased to 
6,720 grains per pound. 

Lard. 

This important culinary substance is derived from the 
loose fat of the pig, and is a very pure fat. It was 
used in Saxon and early Norman times, and as late as 
the fourteenth century, when butter was comparatively 
unknown, it was almost the only fat for cooking. Thus 
Capon in grease was a well-known dish. It is not 
entirely without flavour, but is nearly so, and this, with 
absence of colour, renders it particularly fitted for the 
preparation of any kind of pastry, or as a medium in 
which substances may be fried. It is rarely eaten with 



140 NON-NITEOGEXOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

bread, since it is soon absorbed and disappears from sight, 
and has not sufficient flavour to sharpen the appetite. 

The rendering of it from the leaf fat requires care 
lest it should be burnt, or obtain a flavour from the 
cooked membranes in which it is enclosed, and it is not 
necessary to prolong the process so far as to drive off 
all the water with which it is naturally associated. It 
is also desirable that the cooked membranes should not 
be so much pressed as to exclude all the liquid fat, and 
it is better that the fat should be allowed to drain off 
with no other help than the pressure of the spoon or 
ladle by the hand. When prepared in this way it is 
usual to mix a little salt with it, with a view to its pre- 
servation, but the quantity need not exceed half-an- 
ounce in the pound. 

It is very frequently adulterated with fats of inferior 
value, as, for example, mutton f^it, which is cut off the 
joints before they are sold, and is not one-half the value 
of good lard. When the fat used in adulteration is of 
greater consistence than lard it must be used sparingly, 
and, from whatever source the adulterating fat may be 
obtained, it must have little or no colour, (or be de- 
colorised) and be nearly devoid of taste. Adulterated 
lard is, however, generally slightly coloured, and has not 
the flavour of the genuine fat. Moreover, it is not 
uncommon to mix starch with adulterated lard, in 
order to hide any colour that may have been imported 
into it. It is also said to be customary in Canada for 
dealers to add two to five per cent, of milk of lime, by 
which the colour is improved, and the lard made to 
absorb as much as 25 per cent, of water. 

There are no means of discovering adulteration by 
other pure fats, but starch is readily ascertained by the 
aid of the microscope (No. 46). An excessive quantity of 
salt may be proved by washing and subsequent weighing, 



BUTTEE, GHEE, LAED, DRIPPING, AND OILS. 141 

and tlie quantity of water may be ascertained by loss of 
weight on evaporation. Lard itself, wbetbei pure or 
adulterated, is very commonly used to adulterate butter, 
and particularly when the colour of butter is so high as 
to bear lowering without exciting suspicion. 

The composition of lard is that of a pure fat, and 
there are 5,320 grains of carbon, or if the free hydrogen 
be reckoned as carbon 8,237, in one pound. 

Dripping. 

Dripping, which is eaten as a fat, or used in cooking, 
is almost invariably obtained from the process of roasting 
flesh, and, as it should have very little water in its com- 
position, it is one of the most nutritious kinds of fat. 

Prepared in this manner it has also the flavour of 
meat, by which it is more agreeable than when made from 
the fat of animals alone ; and that derived from camels' 
flesh is especially accounted a luxury by the Arabs. Its 
flavour will, however, be affected by the degree to 
which the flesh is roasted, and its subsequent use for 
culinary purposes. 

Except in the care and cleanliness with which it is 
prepared, it differs little from the finest kinds of tallow 
which are still prepared in Russia, and those made in 
Australia and South America, by the boiling-down of 
the whole carcass of the ox or sheep for the fat alone. 
Yet, notwithstanding this relationship, it is one of the 
fats most highly valued by the poor for its flavour, 
nutritive quality, and cheapness. Wealthy families 
benevolently give it to their poorer neighbours, or sell 
it to them at a merely nominal price; but the more 
general practice of allowing cooks to have it as a 
perquisite leads to many and serious evils. Thus the 
cook is tempted to purchase more fat or fatter meat 
than is desirable, and to put the excess direct into her- 



142 NON-NITROGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS. 

store; also to overcook the meat, so as to increase 
the dripping; to purloin butter, lard, and any other 
good fat to which she has no claim ; to prevent its 
proper use in culinary operations and the preparation 
of pastry, and to substitute other fats for it; to bring 
her in connection, when selling it, with a class of people 
who will steal, and encourage her to rob her master, 
and, generally, to make a thief of an honest woman. 
There is little doubt that this absurd custom has led to 
great waste and extravagance in our kitchens, and to 
the dishonesty of our cooks; and every employer, of 
whatever rank, should prohibit it, and punish any 
infraction of his regulations. 

When it is skimmed from broth, or similar fluids, it is 
less valuable, since it contains a larger portion of water, 
and has acquired foreign flavours, so that it is seldom 
used for culinary purposes. 

Dripping properly made contains 5,320 grains of 
carbon in the pound, whilst butter and suet have only 
4,760 grains. When the free hydrogen is reckoned as 
carbon, the quantity of carbon becomes 7,511 grains per 
pound. 

Oils. 

There are various animal oils which are used in tiie 
adulteration of food, but extremely few which are 
eaten in temperate and hot climates. Whale oil is 
eaten largely by the inhabitants of exceedingly cold 
climates ; but even there it is consumed rather as 
blubber than after its extraction from the cells in which 
it is enclosed, and mixed with more solid fat. Seal oil, 
in the same manner, may be eaten as food ; and cod- 
liver oil, which is now so largely used medicinally, 
probably acts chiefly as a food. 

The effect of fats and oils upon the respiratory process 
is shown in Diagram No. 95. 



ANALOGY OF ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE FOODS. 14.3 



SECTION" IL— VEGETABLE FOODS, 
a. Nitrogenous 



CHAPTER XIX. 

ANALOGY OF ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE FOODS, AND 
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS ON SEEDS. 

Vegetable Foods. 

It has already been shown that the same nutritive 
elements exist in both vegetable and animal foods, and 
that, within certain limits, the two classes of food are 
interchangeable. Also, that both are divisible into two 
sub-classes, viz..: — nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous, or 
flesh-formers and heat-givers, the former being the 
larger. The nitrogenous consists of all seeds and vege- 
table tissues ; whilst starch and sugar are in vegetables 
that which fat is in animals, viz., the especial represen- 
tatives of the non-nitrogenous. Hence, flesh in animal 
foods is represented by seeds in vegetables, and fat 
by starch and sugar; and, to continue the analogj, it 
may be added that seeds when digested will produce 
flesh, and starch when transformed in the body may 
produce fat. 

Moreover, every other element, whether mineral or 
organic, which is required for nutrition is found in the 
vegetable kingdom; as for example — salts of potash, 
goda, lime, magnesia, iron, and manganese ; substances 



144 NITROGENOUS VEQETABLE POODS. 

analogous to fibrin, albumen, and gelatin; gum, 
pectin, and sugar; phosphoric, acetic, sulphuric, hy- 
drochloric, and fluoric acids ; besides many acids pecu- 
liar to vegetables. 

It may then be asked, if there are the same elements 
in both, and if either will suffice to maintain life for a 
considerable time, what is the practical difference be- 
tween them, for the purposes of nutrition ? 

It is probable that this depends upon the habits of 
men, for whilst the majority of people require and 
can digest a moderate quantity of both, there are some 
who from early use live chiefly upon one kind and eat 
many pounds of flesh or vegetables at a meal. It is, 
however, a general rule that, whilst flesh presents the 
elements of nutrition in a form the most compendious 
and easy of digestion, seeds are composed of substances 
which must not only be digested but thoroughly trans- 
formed before they can be used for the reparation of 
the body. The cooking of flesh is doubtless desirable, 
although it is not necessary to its digestion ; but the 
cooking of seeds is still more so, in order to enable the 
stomach to dissolve and perfectly transform them. A 
good test is the amount of matter which leaves the 
bowel after the consumption of vegetable and animal 
foods, and if quantities supplying an equal amount of 
nutriment be taken, the refuse from the former will be 
twice as much as from the latter. It is commonly 
assumed that the digestion of vegetable is easier than 
that of animal food, and that the process is more 
quickl}^ performed, but the experiments of Dr. Beaumont 
have shown that mutton will be digested more quickly 
than bread, and an egg earlier than a potato. 

To this must be added the fact, that a greater bulk of 
vegetable than of animal food is required to provide a 
given amount of nutriment, and hence those who live 



ANALOGY OF ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE FOODS. 145 

cliiefly on the former must be large eaters ; but if it 
were possible to live on either alone, the difference in 
this respect would not be great. 

It will be inferred from the above statement, that 
although the vital actions may be sustained by both 
kinds, they are more slowly moved by vegetable than by 
animal foods ; and this is true, whether we regard the 
respiration, pulsation, or heat-production. When, there- 
fore, we compare them it may be stated generally, that 
vegetable food must be eaten in larger volume, and be 
better cooked, than animal food, and that it requires a 
longer period for, and greater power of digestion, whilst 
it excites the vital processes more slowly, and in a lower 
degree. 

We will now proceed to offer some general remarks 
on Seeds, as the chief representatives of the large and 
important cl^ss of nitrogenous vegetable foods. 

These structures have much in common in reference 
to their organisation and nutritive elements. There 
are two essential parts in all seeds, a23art from the 
seed-vessel, viz., the external rind or skin and the con- 
tained kernel. The rind differs much in thickness and 
appearance, as in the cocoa-nut and rice, but in all 
edible seeds it is comparatively thin, and when properly 
j)repared is sometimes itself edible. It consists of 
woody fibre or lignine, through which the circulation 
is carried on in the seed, and by which form and 
strength are given to the skin, as also of a small pro- 
portion of starch, besides elements peculiar to each 
kind of seed which determine its flavour and properties. 
In many, as wheat, it is coated with a shining layer of 
silica or flint, which protects the underlying structures 
from the action of the atmosphere ; and, unless its con- 
tinuity be broken, the gastric juices cannot act upon the 
starch. Hence, grain when kept dry will remain sound 



146 NITKOGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

for thousands of years, as has been proved in the 
Egyptian tombs, whiist oats which are nnbruised by 
the teeth, or other instrument, will be found almost un- 
changed in the dung of the horse. 

The interior, or kernel of the seed, consists almost 
exclusively of cells, which are filled with starch, and 
albuminous, glutinous, or mucilaginous matter. The 
former may be obtained from the finely-ground seed by 
continued washing, as in the preparation of commercial 
starch, whilst the latter are the substances remaining 
after this process has been completed. 

The starchy material was known many centuries ago, 
for a substance, then called Amydon, was employed to 
thicken broths. Cotgrave says that it was made from 
' fine wheat-flour steeped in water, strained and let stand 
to settle, then drained and dried in the sun.' It is a 
loose material, which on decomposition affords a sour 
odour, whilst gluten is so adhesive and tenacious, as to 
have been used even by the ancients for taking birds, 
and called bird-lime, and on decomposition emits highly 
offensive odours. The grains or granules of starch 
differ much in form and size, and are readily dis- 
tinguished under the microscope, although, as they 
all consist of the same material, they may not be dis- 
tinguishable from each other by any chemical process. 

The following are illustrations of the best known 
forms as observed under a microscope of moderate 
power, such as is usually in the hands of non-scientific 
persons, and are a very interesting and useful subject 
of enquiry. They may be seen by both transmitted and 
reflected light, but with the former they should be 
examined in a drop of water ; and the power should be 
varied with the size of the granules. 



SEEDS. 



147 



No. 46.— Starch Cells. 
A. 





4 '3 





The best knoAvn forms of Starch Cells.— a. Wheaten starch, with faint concentric 
rings, b. Sap-o starch, c. Rice starch, yery small and angular, d. Potato 
starch of medium size, flattened in form, and having well-maiked hnes. 
e. Tbe same more highly magnified to show the nucleus (1) and the lines fi). 
/. Tous le Mois starch, very large and oval, and marked in a very regular 
nianner. g. The same with the cell ruptured by dry heat. /. Pea starch, 
showing the well-marked central folding or cavity. 



When the cells are heated, 
as in the process of boiling, 
they absorb water, and swell 
until the cell- wall bursts, 
and the contents escape. 
This is the true effect of 
cooking, as represented in 
the drawing, on the following 
page, and enables the gastric 
juices to act upon it imme- 
diately it is admitted into the 
stomach. The same result is 
no doubt effected when the 
seed is placed in its raw state 
in the stomach, for it is then 



No. 47. 



-Starch Cells. 
B. 




Shows in differi^nt dtgrers tlie central 
cavity and t'oklmg of the cell-wall. 
a. Colchicum autumnale. b. Iris, c, 
.A.rum maculatum. 



148 



NITEOGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 



exposed to heat and moisture ; "but the digestion and 

No. 48. — Cooked Starch Cells. 
C 




The starch-cell of the Horse-Chestnut in its progress under the influence of 
moisture and heat, from its dry form (H), to its cooked state (A). The 
progress is marked by the inverted order of the letters H to A, and the 
beautiful fringes in E. C and B show the unfolding of the cell-wail 
until it is perfectly expanded and ruptured in A. The size is propor- 
tionate at each step of the process. 

transformation of it are so greatly retarded, that it may 



SEEDS. J 49 

not yield the required nutriment when the body needs 
it, or be removed from the stomach before another supply 
is required. 

Hence the two parts of the process are — (1) the minute 
division of the seed, so that all the parts or cells may 
be quickly brought under the action of the heated 
water ; and (2) the continuance of the cooking process 
until all the cells shall have been distended and rup- 
tured. When the whole seed is exposed to the action 
of heat, a longer period will be required for this process, 
and the result will be more uncertain. 

In order that the seed may be ground into a fine 
powder, it should be previously dried. Grinding by 
millstones is a far more perfect process than by the 
teeth, for not only may the former be used for a pro- 
longed period at a time, but the action of the teeth 
is to cut and press as well as to grind, and is more 
analogous to the action of the coffee-mill than of a pair 
of revolving stones. When, therefore, seeds are eaten 
raw and ground by the teeth, less nutriment is de- 
rived from them, the stomach is more taxed to digest 
them, the process of digestion is slower, the refuse 
emitted from the bowel greater, and the production of 
indigestion much more likely to occur than when 
they have been well cooked and ground. 

This is not the case, or only in a slight degree, with 
flesh, for the teeth can sufficiently tear it asunder, the 
juices of the stomach can more readily act upon a mass, 
and when uncooked, it is still comparatively easy of 
digestion. 

But whilst these processes are necessary in reference 
to all seeds, they are more easily performed on some 
than on others, and on the kernel than on the rind or 
skin. Hence, however finely peas and rice may be 
ground, the former will require a longer period for 



160 NITROGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

cooking than the latter, and so tough is the skin of the 
pea that if it be cooked whole, it may be boiled for 
many hours and still retain its form. The perfect 
cooking of the kernel is, however, always practicable, 
and of known duration, but that of the rind is not 
possible b}^ ordinary methods, unless it be first ground 
into a fine powder. 

This is a very important consideration in reference to 
the more expensive grains, as wheat, since it is desirable 
that every portion of it should be used as food, and 
the same would hold good of all edible seeds at periods 
of severe privation. 

But however perfectly the skin or rind may be pre- 
pared for cooking, and however perfectly it may be 
cooked, the siliceous or shining layer before mentioned 
is insoluble in the gastric juices, and is therefore indi- 

No. 49c — Siliceous Cuticle. 



;#|:ii|ft^ 



; g ': 



I:^I:^5K^I''''1S 



%'M':mr^:B:'- 






A. Siliceous cuticle of the 'W'lieat (Triti- 
cum vulgare), showing cups for the 
insertion of hairs and a spiral vessel. 




B. The pan:e of the Meado-w Grass 

(Fe.^luci' pialensis). 



gestible. When the bran of wheat is eaten by an 
animal, whether man or horse, it will be found in the 
excrement, having this layer still perfect, but the more 
nutritious x^art which is covered by the silica will have 



SEEDS. 161 

been digested in proportion as it was reduced to a fine 

powder and allowed to remain No. 5o. 

sufficientl}' long in the stomach. ' ^^ 

and bowel. 7'^"^ ^^V -_. 

This leads us to the question -^'^--^ '--^h^l^CJt^'t- 
oi' the action of the skin or rind 4V1/ ^\/ ^''i^ ^A 
upon the bowel, and it is of com- ^^^^ ^^^ "^^^^ 
mon observation that in pro- ^i ^f^ ^ 
portion as the piece of rind is y% J^jy :^^ ' ^ 
large and indigestible, so is it '4^^I^^^'^^^ 
a stimulant or irritant of the ^-.'-Jv.^t, < < • ' 

C. This coating is gometinies very 

bowel. bo far. thereiOre, how- beautifuL a« in the .'^tar-like flinty 

. . haii-s of tlie (Deuizia scaO/xt) and 

ever rich the rind may be in the (Pharus aisiatus). 
nutritive elements, it is more likely to prevent than to 
sustain nutrition, since it will lead to the quicker re- 
moval from the body not only of itself but of other and 
perhaps more nutritious matter. When, however, it is 
ground into a fine powder it does not produce this effect, 
and although the siliceous part may still be undigested, 
the lignine and starch which it covers may be partially 
digested and promote nutrition. 

The chemical comj)Osition of lignine and starch is as 
follows ; and whilst starch may be readily detected by 
the aid of the microscope, it may be even more quickly 
determined by the dark purple colour which it produces 
when iodine is added to a solution of it in water. 

Lignine or cellulose, and starch, per cent. : — 

No. 51. 
O. 10 H. 10 C. 12 

The proportion in which starch is found in some of 
the principal articles of vegetable food may be con- 
veniently stated here : — 

No. 52. 
Arrowroot* . . . . . 82*0 per cent. 

Rice 79'i „ 

8 



152 



NITEOGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 



Rye meal 








. 69-5 per cent. 


Barley flour . 








. 69-4 


Wheaten flour 








. 66-3 


Indian corn meal 








• 64-7 


Oatmeal 








58-4 


Peas 








. 55-4 


Wheaten bread 








. 47-4 


Potatoes 








18-8 


Parsnips 








9-6 


Carrots . 








8-4 


Turnips , 








. 5-1 



CHAPTEE XX. 



PEAS, BEANS, LENTILS, 4x. 

The most Mghly nitrogenous seeds are peas {Pisum 
sativum or IIorcliense)j beans {Fciba vulgaris), lentils 
{Ervum Lens), and analogous seeds from leguminous 
plants, and although the members of this class differ in 
appearance and flavour, they have very similar chemical 
and nutritive qualities. The following is the ultimate 
chemical composition, per cent., of peas, besides oxygen 
and hydrogen : — 



No. 53. 



N. 3-65 



The proximate elements in 100 parts of peas, millet 
and lentils are : — 

No. 54. 

Nitrogenous 23 
Salts 2-3 

Nitrogenous 9 
Salts 2-3 

Nitrogenous 25 



Peas 

Millet 
Lentils 



f Water 15 
t Fat 2-1 
/Water 13 
l^Fat 2-6 



Starch 55*4 Sugar 2 



Starch 74 



There is no temperate or hot country which does not 
produce some member of this family, or where the 
inhabitants do not eat them, but in none are they the 
sole staple article of, vegetable food. This arises from 



PEAS, BEANS, LENTILS. 15:3 

tliree well known causes, viz,, their cost, a strong 
flavour which does not please all persons at any time 
nor any person constantly, and the comparative difficulty 
with which they are digested. We are familiar in this 
country with peas and beans, and in the fourteenth 
century our forefathers used vetches or lentils, then 
called Ckych, whilst on the continent of Europe and in 
Egypt and Asia various kinds of lentils are still eaten. 

Beans [Phaseolus Hernandesii) are eaten daily and in 
great quantity by the inhabitants of Mexico and Cen- 
tral America, and when cooked are called frijoles, and 
eaten with pork and fat, or with dry beef called tasajo, 
as in Nicaragua. Haricot beans are also eaten very 
largely in Italy and the south of Europe, as well as in 
Egypt and in India, where the various members of this 
class of foods are known by the term DhaL 

As prepared in Mexico they are a very savoury as 
well as strong food. They are first boiled slowly and 
for a long time in soft water, or water softened with a 
little alkali, until they become perfectly tender, and then 
are simmered with a little lard and crushed capsicum 
pods and flavoured with onions or garlic. 

The chick pea {Cicer arietinum) is called Gram in 
India, and is very largely cultivated there as well as in 
the south of Europe. It is of too delicate a nature to be 
grown in this climate with advantage, and is not so 
prolific as our common pea^ The seeds are parched for 
use on journeys, and made into cakes and puddings, and 
in India they are made into sweetmeats with sesamine 
oil and sugar. The pods are hairy, and exude an acid 
which irritates the hands and is injurious even to the 
boots of persons walking through a gram field, but it is 
collected b}^ the natives as a medicine. 

The skin or rind of the members of this class gene- 
rally, but of the* larger kinds particularly, should be 



154 NITEOaENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

rejected, and the kernel alone eaten, and both should be 
thoronghly cooked. This was well understood in early 
times, for in a recipe of the fourteenth century we find 
the direction to dry the beans in a kiln or oven and to 
shell them well, and winnow the shells (or skins) away, 
before using the beans to make broth, or to be eaten with 
bacon. 

But it was not always so, as is seen in the following 
recipe for frying beans : — 

'Benesy fryed. 

' Take benes and seethe he almost til they bersten, take and 
wryng out the wat clene. do thereto oynons ysode and 
ymynced (minced) and garlec 'pw*, fry hem i oile, or i grece 
and do therto powdo douce (pepper) and sue it forth.' 

The iuiportance of this direction varies with the 
maturity and dryness of the seed. Green peas and 
dried peas are very different foods, and whilst the 
former may be eaten with the skin, and be easily- 
cooked and digested, the latter must be soaked for 
a long time in order to soften the skin ; and after 
the kernel has been well cooked, the skin should be 
rejected. The same remark applies to the bean, but 
by proper selection and cultivation the haricot bean 
has a skin which is thinner and more easily detached 
from the kernel, whilst the flavour of the kernel is 
more delicate than that of the common bean. Hence 
this kind in its mature state is far more frequently used 
as an article of food than the dried pea or bean. More- 
over, the pods of certain leguminous plants may be eaten 
when young, as those of the kidney or haricot bean 
(Fhaseolus vulgaris), of which both the pod and the 
immature bean are cut up into thin slices and boiled. 

It may well be believed that the increased cultivation 
and greater consumption of the haricot bean by the 



PEAS, BEAxN'S, LENTJLS. 155 

working classes of this country would cause an improve- 
ment in their dietary, and in some degree supply the 
deficiency of animal food. The cost is, however, 
too great, and the want of acquaintance with the 
food too marked, to justify the hope that its use 
will ever be greatly increased in our time. On the con- 
trary, there can be no doubt that the use of this 
class, as represented by the dried pea, has greatly 
diminished within this century, notwithstanding the 
general belief in its nutritive value, so that it is 
now more frequently found in compulsory than in 
voluntary dietaries. This is owing to the special 
qualities of the pea, as above stated, greater refine- 
ment of taste and increase in the means of the working 
classes, as well as to the cheapness and more agreeable 
flavour of such grains as wheat; and, in my opinion, it 
is not desira.ble to return to former habits so long as 
the conditions remain unchanged. 

This class of seeds is not grown in extremely cold 
countries, as in the Arctic and Antarctic zones, where, 
indeed, all vegetable productions, except the lichen, 
are rare, and although so well fitted to support nutri- 
tion elsewhere are there supplanted by animal foods. 

It might almost be said that peas alone are nowhere 
made into br<*ad, although they are frequently added to 
farinaceous foods for that purpose ; but in the south- 
east of Scotland very thick cakes, called peas-bannocks, 
are still made of pea meal. 

The following quantities of carbon and nitrogen are 
found in 1 lb. of peas : — viz., carbon 2,683 grains, and 
nitrogen 252 grains. 

The time required to digest beans when boiled is 2J 
hours and upwards. 

According to Frankland's experiments, 10 grains of 
pea mea.l, when* thoroughly consumed in the body, 



156 NITROGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

yield heat sufficient to raise 9 -5 7 lbs. of water 1** F., 
which is equal to lifting 7,487 lbs. one foot high. 

Pea meal, mixed with a proportion of refined fat, is 
made into small cakes by Messrs. Craig, for the use of 
soldiers, sailors, travellers, and housewifes, in the pre- 
paration of pea-soup. It requh'es to be boiled for half- 
an-hour in water, meat-liquor, or bacon-liquor, and 
with the addition of meat or bacon, will be found a very 
luxuriant way of preparing that excellent and nutritious 
food. It has been adopted experimentally for the use 
of the Volunteers. Prepared in a peculiar manner, it was 
also largely eaten by the Prussians in their late war 
with Prance, and supplied with meat in the form of 
sausages. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

MAIZE, OR INDIAN CORN, MILLET, ^c. 

This large class of farinaceous seeds comprehends 
those which are the most frequently used by man in 
every part of the world, and while affording much 
nutriment, are agreeable to the palate, capable of being 
perfectly cooked, and may be produced in an unlimited 
quantity in all but the coldest climates. They are 
inferior to leguminous seeds in chemical constituents, 
but, being more agreeable, are more willingly eaten, 
and at the same time, are more readily cooked and 
digested. The greatest attention has, moreover, been 
given to their growth and preparation, and they are 
so prolific that a given extent of land will yield a larger 
quantity of this than of any other food fitted for man. 
There are many well-known members of this class, 
and each is a staple food in different climates, but 



MAIZE, OR INDIAN CORN, MILLET. 157 

in no one climate can all be equally well produced. 
Thus wheat is essentially a product of temperate and 
is not grown in very hot countries, whilst maize is a 
chief food in many temperate and hot climates, and 
rice is essentially the food of hot climates only. Oats 
are the product of the northern portion of temperate 
climates, and the general Tise of them does not extend 
beyond that region. None of these productions are 
grown in extreme northern latitudes, and are, therefore, 
not a principal part of the food of the inhabitants of 
countries. 

This class of seeds is also "used very largely in the 
production of ardent spirits, the feeding of animals, 
and the preparation of starch for commercial purposes, 
and thus by so much is the portion used by man as food 
lessened and its cost increased. 

Maize (Zea Mays) may be placed first on our list, 
whether we regard its nutritive value or the immense 
regions of the globe where it is produced and consumed 
by man. The production extends throughout North and 
South America, the continent of Europe, and a very 
large part of the continents of Asia and Africa, besides 
numerous islands of the Pacific Ocean ; but it is not 
grown in England, and but little in the English colo- 
nies of Australia. Hence it is, no doubt, a product of 
sunny rather than of temperate climes, and cannot in 
the latter compete with wheat, whether in flavour 
or production. It yields, however, the largest crop of 
any of the class in the countries where it is usually 
grown, and is by far the cheapest food. 

The composition of this grain is as follows, in 100 

parts : — 

No. 55. 
Water 14 Nitrogenous 11 "0 Starch 647 Sugar 0-4 Fat 8-1 Salts 1'7 

The quantity of* carbon and nitrogen in 1 lb. is 2,800 



158 NITEOaENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

and 121*6 grains. The time required for the digestion 
of Indian corn- cake or bread is from three to three and 
a half hours. 

When eaten green its flavour is delicate, and boiled 
in milk, or roasted and eaten with other foods, it 
is accounted a luxury ; but the proportion thus ea.ten is 
infinitely small as compared with that which is allowed 
to mature, and to become dry for storing and grinding. 
The plant is the most handsome of the class ; and, 
growing to the height of six to ten feet, with several 
cobs upon each stem, gives an appearance of abundance 
unsurpassed by any product. 

The flavour of the mature and dried seed is rough 
and harsh, so that one must be trained to like it, and 
it is the most preferred by those who have eaten it from 
childhood. It may be eaten when cooked with water 
only, but it is much improved by the addition of milk, 
eggs, sugar, and other substances of a softer and more 
agreeable flavour. 

The whole mature grain is used by man, after having 
been parched, by which it is rendered more friable 
and digestible, and a very convenient food to travellers 
in India and many Eastern countries. With this excep- 
tion, it is always ground, the skin and kernel together, 
for the skin is thin, and when well ground is digested, 
with the exception of the siliceous coating. The meal 
thus produced is much coarser than that of wheaten 
flour, and as it is not readily cooked, it cannot be made 
into large loaves, lest the central part should not be per- 
fectly baked, but is prepared in cakes and baked before 
the fire or in an oven. Hence it is cooked very soon 
before it is eaten, (unless it be dried in very thin 
layers, like a cake) ; and it is commonly prepared fresh 
every day, and often at every meal. The grinding 
of the grain is often roughly done in the Western 



MAIZE, OR INDIAN CORN, MILLET. 159 

States of America and other newly-peopled countries, and 
the cooking is too hasty and insufficient to make the 
food very digestible. Cakes baked on a board before 
the fire, or on an iron plate in the oven, in the Western 
States of America, are called ' Johnny cakes ; ' and in 
Nicaragua, Mexico, and other places, 'tortilla.' They 
are eaten hot, and usually with milk, but not un- 
frequently with butter, treacle, or other savoury food ; 
and although very acceptable, the inhabitants would 
gladly exchange them for cakes of wheaten flour, if the 
latter were within their reach. Sometimes two cakes 
or tortillas are made into a sandwich, with some inter- 
vening food, as meat, or a sauce of tomatoes and Chili 
pepper, and eaten by travelleijs. 

The tortilla is a food which has been eaten by the 
Mexicans from remote antiquity, and is prepared now 
with the same kind of materials and in the same 
mode as in former ages. It is really a cake, made of 
gi-ound maize, of the size and thickness of a pudding- 
plate, and resembles our oat-cake, but is better cooked 
and rendered more digestible. It is prepared by boil- 
ing the whole corn in water with a little soda or 
mixed alkali, until it is completely softened but not 
broken up, and afterwards it is kneaded or rolled 
upon a stone, so as to become thoroughly homogeneous 
in texture. The paste is divided into portions, rolled 
or clapped between the hands into a cake, and then 
turned upon a hot plate, to be browned on both sides, 
until it is ready for the table. 

But besides the use of maize as bread, it is very 
commonly made into pudding, with or without other 
and more agreeable foods, and eaten either alone or 
with meat. It is now known in Ireland as Stirrabout, 
and' in Italy as Polenta, whilst it is eaten with pork 
in America und^r the designation of hog-and-hominy. 



160 NITROaENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

Maize has recently supplanted the millet in the food 
of the Kaffirs. The corn, termed umMla, is placed in a 
covered earthenware cooking-pot, with a little water, 
over a wood fire until it is partially softened. It is 
then pounded and rolled upon a flat stone until it is 
made into a soft paste or porridge {isicaha), in which 
state it is eaten with a wooden spoon, and, as in 
Ireland, with sour milk. Being rich in nitrogen, it is 
also known as a strong food, and numerous preparations 
of its starch have been introduced into this and other 
countries under the name of corn-flour, for the pre- 
paration of blanc-mange and puddings, for which it is 
perhaps better fitted than the flour of wheat. It is thus 
not only a food of very high nutritive, value, but is con- 
sumed in a great variety of forms, and whilst a neces- 
sary to hundreds of millions of people in a limited sense, 
is a luxury and a very agreeable food to selected classes 
of persons. 

The large proportion of nitrogen which it contains 
renders it a more stimulating food than wheat, so that 
when it is the constant food of horses, even in the 
countries where both the food and the horse are indi- 
genous or acclimatised, it is liable to produce disease. 

The consumption of this grain in Great Britain is no 
doubt greater than it was thirty years ago, and an 
impetus was given to its importation during the Irish 
famine of 1847, but it has not taken root as the ordinary 
food of any class. As a food for man it is known in 
England almost exclusively in gaol and Irish poor law 
dietaries ; and although it was welcomed by the Irish 
people when the potato failed, and they were exposed 
to starvation, it is not preferred to oatmeal, much less 
to wheat or potato, and its use is receding before the 
claims of the two latter foods. So long as wheat can 
be obtained here in sufficient quantity, maize will never 



MAIZE, OR INDIAN CORN, MILLET. 161 

be generally accepted as an ordinary food for man, but 
at the same time its use is rapidly increasing for horses 
and other of the lower animals. 

It may be doubted whether Indian meal is ever greatly 
adulterated ; but for some years past a preparation, 
known as ' Jonathan,' has been sometimes added, which 
is indigestible and useless, if not injurious. It con- 
sists of calcined and ground oat-chaff", as was admitted 
in an enquiry before the magistrates at Guisborough, in 
May 1872, to which the following extract from a report 
refers : — 

* It was found difficult, however, to prove what the article 
"Jonathan " really was. A witness for the prosecution stated 
that it was not fit for the food of man or beast, and a witness 
for the defence stated that it was meal. The case was adjourned 
for a proper analysis to be made. Mr. Frederick Wm. Rock, 
analytical chemist, of London, attended on Tuesday, and stated, 
after careful chemical examination, he found the article con- 
sisted entirely of fibre, generally resembling oat husks which 
Lad been calcined and ground ; he could not positively say 
whether there was any wood in it. He found nothing but a 
trace — one-half part in a thousand parts — of nutriment. This 
article was worse than wood when eaten by either animal or 
man, because the husks would irritate the intestines and bring 
on inflammation. He could positively state that the article 
was not meal, and that oatmeal or the kernel of any grain 
would be adulterated if mixed with it. For the defence, it was 
contended that the article was not sawdust, as stated in the 
summons, but the husks of oats, and not a foreign substance 
within the meaning of the Act of Parliament. It was also ob- 
jected, that a conviction could not be sustained on the ground, 
that the allegation of the " article supposed to be sawdust " in 
the summons was not proved by the evidence.' 

Milltt {Panicum miliaceum) is a small grain scarcely 
larger than a large pin's head, which grows very exten- 
sively in the south and east, as China, India, Egypt, 



162 NITROGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

and other parts of Africa, and is described by Lord Elgin 
on his visit to China as a stiff, reedy stem, some twelve 
or fourteen feet high, with a tuft at the top. The grain 
is found in this tuft. There are numerous varieties, and 
it is a chief article of food over very large districts, but 
usually it shares that position with maize or rice. 

This and similar seeds, under a variety of names, as 
cheena, warree, and kadi-kane, are parched in India, and 
under the name of parched gram form a very convenient 
food for travellers. It is used in Tartary for the prepara- 
tion of a fermented beverage, called hoitza, by pouring 
hot water over a portion of fermented seed and imbibing 
the infusion through a reed. The flavour of the beverage 
is said to resemble sour sherry and water. 

Millet consists, in 100 parts, of — 

No. 56, 
Water 13 Nitrogenous 9 Carbonaceous 7i Fat 2-6 Salts 2-3 

lowaree, a species of Impey seed, is used in Barrack- 
pore and other parts of India. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

RICE. 



It is perhaps worthy of observation that rice, both 
whole and ground, was used in English cookery in the 
fourteenth century, seeing that it was not g-rown in 
England, and must have been imported, at considerable 
cost, from some foreign country. The following is a 
recipe of that period : — 

' Re Smolle. 

' Take almand blanched and draw hem up with wat (water) 
and alye (thicken) it with flo of rys and do pto (thereto) 



RICE. 163 

powdo of gjng (ginger) sug and salt and loke it be not standy- 
ing (thin or diluted) messe it and sue it forth.' 

In other recipes, the rice was used with dates, white 
roses and spices, or with meats ; or made into a com- 
pote, with apples, saffron, honej, almonds, pepper, and 
salt; or eaten with salmon, Cyprus wine, and condi- 
ments. A preparation called hlanh mang was described 
in the following manner. The rice which had been 
soaked in water for a night, and on the morrow washed 
clean, was put upon a strong tire until it burst, but not 
too much. Then brawn of capon or hen was taken and 
drawn small. Milk of almonds was then mixed with the 
rice and boiled, after which the brawn was added to it, 
and thickened with it. When it was stiff enough, sugar 
and almonds were added, and it Avas fried in lard, and 
served. This is not the hlanc-mange of our day, but 
rather a curry with the curry powder omitted. 

Rice {Oryza sativa), upon which hundreds of millions 
of people chiefly subsist, is by no means equal to- wheat 
in its nutritive properties, since it consists almost ex- 
clusively^ of starch, and is relatively deficient in nitro- 
genous elements. Hence rice-starch is a familiar article 
of commerce, and rice is nowhere regarded as a strong 
food. 

There are two principal divisions of this grain, viz., 
upland and sea-level rice, but tliere are an almost 
infinite number of varieties in the different countries 
where it grows. It varies very much in size, colour, 
and general appearance, and in its properties when 
cooked, so that in one kind the grains remain quite dis- 
tinct, whilst in others they are broken up, and famish 
a mucilaginous material, which makes a very agreeable 
food. As a specimen of the former, we may cite that 
whiph is grown in India, and used in the preparation of 
curry, and of the latter the South Carolina rice, so 



1(54 NITROaENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

generally used in puddings. The latter is the finest 
quality of rice known, as determined by its sweetening 
and thickening properties, due ?hiefly, if not entirely, 
to care in cultivation. 

"Rice is cut with the sickle, made into shocks, stacked, 
threshed, and winnowed, like wheat, when it is called 
faddy in India, and rough rice in America. It is then 
sent to the cleaning or husking-mill, by which the outer 
yellow siliceous coating is removed, and the inner white 
grain separated. The former is of no use as food, but is 
of value as a material in which to pack fragile goods, 
very much as oat-chaff is used in this country. After the 
grain has been received from the mill it is winnowed, to 
drive off a part of the husk, and sifted into five parts, 
viz., the chaff, chaff and rice-flour, broken fragments of 
rice, middlings and smaller grains, and prime. The last 
is the best rice to be obtained from the crop, so far as its 
market value may 'be a test, but it is not sweeter, or, in 
a nutritive sense, better than the broken rice, when 
the latter is free from grit and chaff. 

The broken rice, being well dried, may be ground 
into flour of different degrees of fineness ; and when 
white rice is selected for this purpose, it is not unfre- 
quently used to adulterate fine wheaten flour, in order 
to increase the Avhiteness of the whole, and, the cost of 
broken rice flour not being so great as that of fine 
wheat flour, the operation is a profitable one. 

New rice is regarded as inferior in quality to old, 
inasmuch as it is much less digestible, and likel}" to 
produce indigestion, diarrhoea and rheumatism. It 
should not be eaten for at least six months after it has 
been gathered, and some Indian authorities interdict 
its use for three years. 

Whole rice cooked by boiling in water until it is 
softened throughout is known in almost all parts of the 



EICE. 165 

world, but particularly in India, where it is called hhdt ; 
but it is more usual in this country to bake it with 
milk, eggs, and other foods, as rice pudding. 

A food, called Juljpaun, is made with parched rice and 
other grain in India; and parched rice alone is very 
commonly eaten by travellers and labourers, who are 
unable to cook food when it is required. 

Ground rice is not necessarily of the best quality, 
but its value is determined by its colour and thick- 
ening properties. It is ground somewhat roughly, 
so that the grains are perceptible and impart a rough 
and dry taste to the food. When mixed with wheaten 
flour and made into bread it gives a dry taste, whilst 
it may increase the whiteness of the food. 

Rice cakes are prepared as small loaves or biscuits, 
and are easily masticated and digested, and being 
usually mixed with sugar and other agreeable sub- 
stances, are luxurious foods. 

Rice flour is often adulterated with the flour of other 
grains, as maize and wheat, and although the nutritive 
value may be increased thereby, it is desirable to be 
able readily to detect the adulteration. So small an 
admixture as two per cent, may be determined by 
adding a saturated solution of picric acid to equal parts 
of the flour and water, when a precipitate occurs in about 
an hour. There is no precipitate when rice flour only 
is present. 

The chemical composition of an average sample of rice 
is as follows, per cent., besides hydrogen and oxygen : — 

No. 57. 
C. 39 N. 1 

The proximate elements in 100 parts are — 

No. 58. 
Water 13 Nitrogeaous 6-3 Starch 79-1 Sugar 04 Fat 0-7 Salts 0-5 



166 NTTEOGENOUS VEaETABLE FOODS 

According to rra;nl:land's experiments 10 grains of 
ground rice when thoronglily burnt in the body produce 
heat sufficient to raise 9*8 lbs. of water 1° F., which 
is equal to lifting 7,454 lbs. 1 foot high. The effect in 
m J experiments of eating 4 ozs. well cooked, was to give 
a maximum increase of carbonic acid in expiration of 
1'9, 1*675 ^^^ 1*^^ grain per minute in different per- 
sons, and to increase the quantity of air inspired by 54 
and 96 cubic inches. The rate of pulsation was in- 
creased, but not that of respiration, and the effect was 
very enduring (No. 95). The addition of 1 ounce of fresh 
butter did not add to the respiratory effect of the rice, 
but the rate of pulsation was increased 9 per minute. 

The time required for the digestion of boiled rice is 
somewhat over an hour, so that it is a very digestible 
food. 

CHAPTEE XXIII. 

OATS. 

This grain {Avena sativa or orientaMs) is grown in com- 
paratively low temperatures, whether in reference to 
latitude or elevation, as in the Peak of Derbyshire, the 
northern districts of England and Scotland, and gene- 
rally through the north of Europe, where wheat cannot 
be produced as a remunerative crop.. The grain is 
larger and its nutritive qualities greater in the climate 
of Scotland than in England, and in elevated rather 
than in lowland districts generall}^ 

The husk is particularly hard, so that it is not only 
somewhat difficult to break, but unless it be broken the 
gastric juice cannot act upon the kernel, and it will 
pass through the stomach and bowels undigested. It 
is also furnished with long sharp spikes, which are apt 
to become fixed in the folds of the intestines and to 



OA.TS. 167 

accumulate in large masses in the bowels of the horse. 
Hence it is desirable for proper nutrition that it should 
be entirely removed or be so divided that it may 
not prevent the action of the gastric juice and the 
solution of the kernel. This is well known to horse- 
keepers, and every prudent man bruises, if not grinds, 
the oats before feeding the horse. 

The proportion of this part of the grain to the kernel 
is one of the measures of the value of the corn, since 
inferior grain has a small kernel and much husk. It 
is also said to be very nutritious, because it is richer in 
nitrogen than the kernel ; but that is a fallacy, since the 
husk can neither be thoroughly masticated nor digested, 
and hence cannot yield up all its nitrogen. This is im- 
portant when we consider the nutritive value of the 
ground grain, for whatever proportion of the husk may 
remain in the meal the nutritive quality of the food is 
scarcely, if at all, increased. Notwithstanding the 
greater proportion of nitrogen, as there is no known 
method by which the husk may be ground into a very 
fine powder, it should be removed from the meal in the 
dietaries of men, for not only does its weight not repre- 
sent nutriment, but it acts as an irritant to the bowel, 
and may thereby prevent nutrition. It is, however, 
very possible to remove the husk as a whole and leave 
the kernel alone, as anyone may prove for himself. 

The husks are used both in Scotland and Wales for 
the preparation of a kind of porridge, by being steeped 
in water for one or two days until they begin to ferment, 
ind the mass skimmed and boiled. This is called 
Sowans in Scotland, and Sucan or Llymru in Wales, and 
when cold it assumes a gelatinous or hlanc-mange ap- 
pearance. 

■ The kernel is really the digestible and nutritive part 
of the oat, and is an exceedingly valuable article of food. 



168 NITROaENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

The flavour although sweet, is rough,and to be thoroughly 
approved must be eaten in early life, but notwithstanding 
the alleged preference for this food, a Scotchman so 
trained is very apt to exchange oatmeal for white 
wheaten flour on removing to England, and his children 
brought up in England eventually discard it as a daily 
article of diet. 

Oatmeal is known as a strong food and one that 
requires much cooking in order to break its starch cells, 
but when it is well cooked it thickens milk or water 
more than the same weight of wheaten flour. It also 
yields a jelly or blanc-mange of a firmer quality than 
that derived from wheaten flour, and is doubtless the 
stronsfer and better food. 

When it is ground in the ordinary way a proportion 
of the husk is left in the meal, but less in meal made 
by millstones than from crushing corn .mills. The 
meal is ground in two forms, namely, in somewhat 
large grains as in the Scotch oatmeal, and a fine 
powder as in Derbyshire oatmeal, but either may 
be obtained from the same grain. The Scotch always 
prefer the rough grain, and boil it for a long time ; by 
which they obtain a thicker and sweeter porridge than 
the Enoflish, who use a finer meal and boil it for a 
shorter time. The longer it is boiled the more digestible 
is the food produced. 

It is worthy of remark that the cost of this food has 
increased of late years, while that of other farinaceous 
foods has decreased, not because there is a greater 
demand for it, but a less supply. It has, in fact, 
changed from a necessary food of a coarse character for 
the use of the puor to a luxury eaten in small quantities 
by all classes, and produced on so small a scale that it 
is not only not a cheap food for the poor man, but being 
dearer than wheaten flour is in many places too costly 
to be obtained by him. 



OATS. 169 

Groats are the whole kernel of the oat when freed 
from the husk, and in like manner they are regarded as 
a luxury and not a necessary food, since the expense of 
preparation and the selection of the best and largest 
grain renders them more expensive than their nutri- 
tive value warrants. They are not eaten in the form 
of bread or cake, but are boiled in water or milk in the 
preparation of gruel ; and if the rough-ground meal 
requires much boiling the whole grain demands still 
more. When thoroughly cooked with milk, they make 
a very nutritious pudding, but as the flavour is far less 
delicate than that of rice they are rarely used for that 
purpose. 

Ground oatmeal is cooked in two principal forms, 
namely, as porridge and cakes. The word ' porridge ' 
in Scotland and the north of England means oatmeal 
boiled well in water, in which state it is known in 
England as hasty pudding, but it is more usual in 
England to boil a smaller portion of it with milk or 
milk and water in the preparation of milk porridge. 
The former kind is eaten as a thick j)ridding with cold 
milk, into which it is thrown, or it is sweetened with 
treacle, or sugar and butter, as in eating hominy. 

When oatmeal is prepared by simply stirring it in 
boiling water it is called brose, and is still used both 
in the highlands and lowlands of Scotland, but par- 
ticularly in the bothies. It is not unusual to find this 
the sole food of the bothy men, with the addition of 
milk, and being prepared so easily is a very convenient 
if not an easily digested food. 

When oatmeal is steeped in water from twenty-four 
to thirty-six hours until it begins to ferment, and is 
then skimmed and boiled to the consistence of gruel, it 
.8 called budram or mwdran or brwchan in Wales. 
Another Welsh preparation of oatmeal is termed 
bargout. 



170 NITROaENOUS VEG-ETABLE FOODS. 

Oat-cakes are made of two degrees of thickness — one 
very thin, as in the Passover cake of the Jews, and 
the other about a quarter of an inch thick. It is not 
fermented, but soda or carbonate of ammonia are some- 
times added to levigate it, and it must be well dried to 
preserve it for subsequent use. The Passover cake, being 
very thin, may be thoroughly dried, and will resist the 
action of the atmosphere for an indefinite time, or so 
long as it remains dry ; but the ordinary oat-cake, being 
thicker, is rarely dried throughout, and is very apt to 
become so sour that only those who are accustomed to 
its use can eat it. 

ISTo attempt has been made to bake it in large loaves, 
like wheaten bread, and in this it again resembles 
Indian corn, the explanation being the great difficulty 
of thoroughly expanding and rupturing the starch cells, 
and therefore of cooking the meal in that form. If it 
were desirable to make the attempt, it would be better 
to first heat it to a temperature of 200°, taking care to 
stir it frequently, and not to allow it to become too 
dry until most of the cells have been ruptured. This 
process would, if carefully carried out, cause the meal 
to be better cooked in water, and would make it more 
digestible, but it is useless to recommend it wherever 
fine wheaten flour can be obtained. The ultimate 
analysis of oatmeal shows the following constituents, 
besides oxygen and hydrogen, per cent. : — 

No. 59. 
C. 40 N. 2 

There are 140 grains of nitrogen and 2,768 grains of 
carbon per pound. 

The proximate elements in 100 parts of oatmeal 

aie : — 



OATS. 171 

No. 60. 
Water 15 Nitrogenous 126 Starch 68-4 Sugar 5-4 Fat 56 Salts 3-() 

The time required for tlie digestion of oatmeal is 
scmeivliat greater than that of wheaten flour when 
cooked in the same manner. 

Ten grains of oatmeal, when thoroughly burnt in the 
body, produce svifficient heat to raise 10 -1 Jbs. of water 
1° F., which is equal to lifting 7,800 lbs. one foot high. 

In my experiments the effect upon the vital functions 
of eating oatmeal was considerable, and very similar to 
that following the use of rice and wheaten bread. Four 
ounces of good Scotch oatmeal, when well cooked as 
porridge with water, gave maxima of increase of 1*63 
grain and 1-32 grain of carbonic acid per minute in 
diff'erent persons. The volume of air insj^ired per 
minute was increased by 55 cubic inches, and the fre- 
quency of respiration was lessened. The whole effect 
was sustained and very enduring. (No. 95). 

The chaff* of oats is used for the adulteration of 
Indian meal and barley meal, as described at page 161, 
under the term ' Jonathan.' 



CHAPTER XXiy. 

WHEATEN FLOUE AFD BEEAD 

We now proceed to consider the most important vege- 
table production of temperate climates (Triticum vulgar e, 
cestivum, or sativum) — that upon which the life of 
man in these regions mainly depends. Its importance 
rests upon several properties, by which it is an ac- 
ceptable and good food for all ages and classes of the 
people. It is produced abundantly, and cheaply ; is easily 
ground and refined, is readily and thoroughly cooked, 



172 NITROaENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

has a mild flavour which is universally agreeable, and 
contains nearly all the essential elements of nutrition. 
It is j)referable to any of the other great vegetable 
products on which men chiefly live, since it is a far 
more agreeable food than maize, and a more nutri- 
tious food than rice. It is probable that the health 
and mental and bodily vigour of the inhabitants of 
temperate climes are more attributable to this food than 
to any other single cause. 

Wheat is of two principal kinds, known as white and 
red wheat ; but there are numerous varieties of the plant 
which do not affect the colour of the grain. The red is 
the stronger food, and the grain is usually smaller and 
harder; whilst the white is a large grain, and par- 
ticularly adapted to the production of fine white flour, 
and to mix with red wheat for the same purpose. The 
red variety is the most widely grown, and in nutriment 
is to be preferred. 

The quality varies not only with the selection of seed 
and cultivation, but with season and climate, so that a 
hot summer and a sunny clime produce grain with 
the least proportion of water and the greatest of 
nitrogen. Hence wheat from Southern Europe, the 
shores of the. Black Sea, and the Steppes of Asia 
and the Caucasus, is preferred, as is also that of any 
temperate clime in which the heat of the sun is great 
during the summer months, as in the interior of America 
and Russia. It does not, however, flourish under a 
tropical sun, or in a high northern latitude. It is 
grown in India chiefly in the upper provinces and on 
lands at a considerable elevation. The effect of season 
is practically as great as that of climate, and the pro- 
duct of a hot season is harder and more nitrogenous 
than that of a wet or cold season. 

Hence the art of the miller consists not less in pro- 



WHEATEN FLOUR AND BREAD. 173 

perly mixing the kinds of grain to produce the best 
flour, than in well grinding and preparing it for food, 
and offers scope for intelligence and knowledge. 

By the same art, wheat flour is adulterated with rice 
flour, potato starch, plaster of Paris, pea flour, alum, 
sulphate of copper, and other materials which cost* less 
than flour, or add to its weight at a cheaper rate. 

Rice, potato starch, and pea flour are readily ascer- 
tained under the microscope by the form of the granules 
(No. 46) ; plaster of Paris, by being insoluble when 
the flour has been washed in water and separated for 
analysis ; alum, by dipping a slice of bread into a 
watery solution of logwood, when a claret colour will 
be produced if alum be present ; and sulphate of cop- 
per, by the colour of Prussian blue, which is produced 
when prussiate of potash is added to a solution of the 
bread in water. 

Perhaps a more convenient form of applying the log- 
wood test for alum is to macerate 4^ oz. of logwood chips 
in 8 oz. of spirit for twenty-four hours, and Alter. A few 
drops, added to moistened bread or bread-crumb or flour 
in a little water, will show the dark red colour, if alum 
be present. Such a preparation can be made and kept 
ready for use in every house. 

Rice flour, possessing much less nitrogen than wheaten 
flour, lessens the nutritive value of the mixture, and is 
used only when it can be obtained at a cost less than 
that of wheat, or when it is desired to prepare flour 
and bread of extreme whiteness, as French flour, or of 
great dryness and friability, as in rice-cakes. 

Pea flour is added to inferior wheat flour, to giv^e 
strength, by its greater quantity of nitrogen, and is not 
an injurious addition. Plaster of Paris increases the 
weight ot the flour at a cheap rate, and although it is 
not a poisonous substance, it is not useful to the body, 



174 NITROGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

and is liable to interfere with the proper action of the 
bowels, so that its use is Yevy reprehensible. Alum is 
added to give strength to the floar, not in the sense 
already mentioned by supplying nitrogen as an im- 
portant food, but to enable the ilour to absorb a larger 
quantity of water, and to produce a greater weight 
of bread from a given weight. It is extremely likely 
to produce indigestion ; but if employed in very small 
proportions, it might be useful when the flour is of 
inferior quality, as the result of a cold and wet season, 
or of sprouting, and in that proportion might not be 
injurious to health.. The usual extent of adulteration 
varies from ten to thirty or forty grains in the 4 lb. loaf. 
A mixture of potato starch and boiled rice is added to 
enable the flour to take up m(>re water, (so that five 
additional loaves may be sometimes made from a sack of 
flour,) and the bread remains moist for a longer time. 
Sulphate of copper is said to be used very frequently to 
give increased whiteness to the bread. 

The bran of wheat is of value in the nourishment 
of both man and the inferior animals, and its real merits 
are better appreciated now than at any previous period. 
It cannot be detached entire, but in the process of 
grinding it is broken up into scales of various sizes and 
qualities. The inner part is called cerealin, and a.cts 
like diastase in the conversion of starchy food into 
sugar, and is therefore an aid to digestion. The several 
layers become thinner and whiter as they approach the 
kernel, and when broken up in the process of grinding 
receive different names, and obtain different prices in 
the market. These are as follows, besides the fine and 
second flour : — • 

1. Tails or tippings, in the proportion of about 2 per cent. 

2. Sharps, in the proportion of about 3 per cent., selling at 2s. a bu.shel. 

3. Fine pollards, in the proportion of about 3 per cent., selling at Is. a bushel. 



WHEATEN FLOUR AND BREAD. 175 

4. Coarse pollards, in the proportion of about 4 to 6 per cent., soiling at 

lOc^. a bushel. 
6. Bran, in the proportion of about 5 to 10 per cent., selling at 9d. a bushel. 

The market price is, iu a rough way, a measure of 
the nutritive value of these layers, for their properties 
have been well tested in feeding the inferior animals, 
and it increases as we proceed from without inwards. 

The outside layer, or coarse bran, is the least nutri- 
tious, and as the exterior is covered with a layer of silica, 
it is so far indigestible, and remains as a foreign 
body in the bowel, setting up irritation or diarrhoea. 
Hence, its nutritive value in this form is limited to the 
starch and gluten which lie on its inner side ; but if it 
irritate the bowel, it may be removed before these have 
been digested, and in its removal carry away other 
nutritive material, and rather lessen than increase 
nutrition. This laxative quality may be medicinal, but 
it is not nutritious, and may be more useful in one form 
than in another, and at one time than at another. That 
it can add directly to nutrition is impossible ; and whilst 
it may be very useful to those who are well fed and need 
a laxative, it may be worse than useless to the ill fed 
who need nourishment. 

Years ago in England, as now in India, this part of the 
skin was left in the flour (thence called brown or batch 
flour), so as to enable the whole to be sold at a lower rate 
than fine flour, for the use of the poor ; but the dis- 
advantage of its use was insisted upon by me, in 1864, 
at the Society of Arts, when treating on the dietaries of 
the poor and the compulsory dietaries of prisoners and 
paupers, and it was shown that the discarding of it by 
the poor in favour of a finer flour was based on sound 
experience of its nutritive value. It was also shown, in 
my Eeport to the Privy Council in 1863, on the dietary 
of low-fed populations, that as bread was more agree- 



176 NITKOaENOUS VEaETABLE FOODS. 

able witliout it, tlie children of the poor were con- 
tent to eat it dry when thej would have been disgusted 
with dry brown bread, or would have required treacle, 
or some savoury and expensive addition, to induce them 
to eat it. Thus, it was shown that white bread is now 
the poor man's food ; and it may be repeated, in illus- 
tration of the contradictory course of events, that brown 
bread has become a luxury — the luxury of the rich man, 
and too dear for the use of the poor. 

These facts having been strongly insisted upon, 
attempts have been made to remove the objection 
to use it. This has been effected by grinding it very 
finely, and we believe it has been effectual, not only 
in preventing the mechanical irritation of the bowels ; 
but in so exposing the particles to the action of the 
gastric juices that the stomach appropriates nearly all 
the nutritive matter. 

There are two reasons for regarding this change with 
favour — the lower price of the bran as compared with 
that of the kernel, and the greater proportion of 
nitrosren in the bran. The value of the former will 
depend upon the usefulness of the latter, and it is there- 
fore very desirable to prove that the bran in this finely 
divided state is readily digested. The proof is still 
wanting, and I think we are only entitled to affirm that 
a much larger portion of it can be digested than of the 
whole bran ; but the woody fibre and the silica will pro- 
bably remain undigested. Hence, this partial advantage 
may be counterbalanced by the increased cost of 
grinding, and also by the increased value which would 
be given to the bran in the market. 

There is but little of th3 inner scales which cannot 
be employed in nourishing the body; and, as they 
contain a larger proportion of gluten, in relation to 
the starch, than is found in the kernel, as well as the 
valuable ferment, called cerealin, they should be desir- 



WHEATEN FLOUE AND BREAD. 177 

able additions to tlie flonr, so far as their nitrop^enous 
element is concerned. , The flavour, however, of these 
layers is far inferior to that of the kernel, and dimi- 
nishes rather than enhances the value of the flour. 

It is now very unusual to eat the grain of wheat in 
its entire form, but it was long employed in the prepa- 
ration of frumity, or furmenty, either for daily use, 
or to celebrate the harvest-home. It is prepared by 
steeping the new wheat in water, and placing the pan 
in an oven, where it may be kept at a temperature of 
100° to 120° F. for eighteen to thirty-six hours, when 
the grain *vill have swollen and ruptured its skin, and 
at the same time, the kernel will be softened, and the 
saccharine process will have commenced. It is then 
read}' to be boiled with milk, and, when spiced and 
sweetened with sugar, is a preparation of delicious 
flavour, but it is indigestible, so far as regards the 
whole wheat and the husk, which will ultimately pass 
off by the bowel, and it could not be used constantly as 
an article of food. 

In the middle ages this old English food was called 
frumity, frumetye, furmenty, furmenti, and formenty ; 
and, in the fourteenth century, was prepared according 
to the following recipe : — 

' Nym (take) clene Wete and bray it in a morter wel that 
the holys (hulls) gon al of & sethe yt til it breste, and nym 
yt up and lat it Kele (cool), and nym fayre fresh broth and 
Swete My Ik of Almandys or Swete My Ik of Kyne & temper 
yt al, and nym the Yolkys of eyryn (eggs) boyle it a 
lityl, and set yt ad on and Messe yt forthe wyth fat Venyson & 
fresh Moton.' 

In other recipes it is prepared with porpoise, instead 
of venison and mutton. 

The Arabs of Syria boil it with leaven, and after- 
wards dry it in ^the sun, and eat it with butter or oil. 



178 NITEOGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

Thej call it Burgoul, and when tlms dried it may be 
kept good for years. At other times they grind the 
wheat very coarsely and boil it in water, after which it 
is eaten with butter or milk. 

In the grinding of wheat by the miller the grain is 
passed over a series of sieves, by which the parts of it 
which are large are ultimately removed from those which 
are more finely ground. The finest white flour is de- 
rived chiefly from the central parts of the kernel, and 
is known as the finest biscuit flour, whilst all the 
succeeding portions vary in colour and fineness accord- 
ing to the degree of admixture of the diifei^nt layers 
or coats of the skin. Hence the cost of the finest flour 
must be greatly enhanced, both by the small proportion 
of it, and the skill and material required to prepare 
it. It has therefore a value in its very whiteness and 
so-called purity and rarity ; but let us further enquire 
into the true nutritive value of this and other qualities 
of flour. 

We will assume that all are made from the same 
grain, and therefore that there is one standard of 
quality common to all. The finest flour has lost, as we 
may suppose, every trace of the skin, and is truly the 
kernel only. It is therefore composed of starch in the 
starch cells, and of the glutinous matters in the cell 
walls and intervening structures with certain mineral 
matters which are associated with them. So far as 
starchy or heat-giving matter is concerned, ifc is supe- 
rior to any other quality of flour. The other qualities 
vary only in the proportion of the layers of the skin 
which they contain ; and as they possess a larger pro- 
portion of gluten and other nitrogenous materials with 
phosphoric acid and various salts, by so much does the 
flour contain less starch and more of the flesh-forming 
and other nutrient principles. Hence frimd fade the 



WHEATEN FLOUR AND BEEAD. 179 

latter qualities are preferable to the first if the nutritive 
qualitj and not the flavour be the test. Subject to the 
removal of so much of the skin of the wheat as would, 
if present, colour or deteriorate the flavour of the flour 
in a marked degree, the so-called inferior qualities 
are to be preferred by the poor and by those who 
would obtain nourishment at the least proportionate 
cost. 

It may be convenient to state, in a summary manner, 
the nitrogenous and mineral matters which are found 
in the whole grain of wheat and in its several parts. 

Thus the gluten or chief nitrogenous principle varies 
from 10*5 in English to 11*5 in Virginia, 13*5 in New 
Orleans and Dantzig, and even to 15 per cent, in Black 
Sea wheat in good seasons, which is nearly one-half 
more than that produced in our climate. 

The increased proportion of gluten and salts in the 
husk, as compared with the kernel, is very striking. 
Thus, whilst the nitrogen is 1*7 and salts 0*7 j)er cent. 
in fine flour, the following proportions are found in the 
different layers of the husk : — 





No. 61. 






Nitrogen 


Salts 


Bran 


. 23 per cent. 


7 per cent. 


Coarse pollard . 


. • 2-4 „ 


6-5 „ 


Fine pollard 


. 2-4 „ 


5-5 „ 


Coarse sharps . 


. 2-5 „ 


3-8 „ 


Fine sharps 


. 2-2 „ 


19 „ 



Hence I have no doubt that a good seconds flour is 
the cheapest and most nutritious, if not the most 
digestible of the series, and that when thirds are pro- 
duced, or even when the bran is ground to a fine 
powder and added to the flour, the actual amount of 
nutritive matter which the stomach can extract is 
probably less than with the seconds, whilst its flavour 
does not recommend it to either the poor or rich. 



180 NITROGENOUS VEGETABLE EOODS. 

There is, however, a mode of grinding tlie whole 
grain, by Mr. Hart's process, so as to leave it in small 
masses, instead of reducing it to an impalpable powder, 
which gives a peculiarity, if not advantage, to the bread 
produced from it, and by which it may be among wheat 
flours that which Scotch oatmeal is in the kinds of oat- 
meal. I have eaten it with enjoyment, but the flavour 
is rough and somewhat coarse, and it would not be 
eaten, except as a luxury by the wealthier classes. 
Ladies generally object to it, until they have by habit 
acquired a new taste. 

The importance of the subject has stimulated in- 
ventors to give more variety, sweetness, or economy 
to this product. Mr. McDougall has, with the same 
view, prepared an addition of phosphates, by which he 
assumes that he has added an important element. 
This was suggested by the presence of that material 
in the bran of wheat, as well as by the known value of 
the phosphates in supplying material against brain -waste, 
and I think it very probable that it is based on truth. 

Comparisons of flour prepared by different processes 
are open to great fallacy, since different parcels of the 
grain vary considerably in the proportion of nitrogen, 
whilst flour varies in the proportion of husk which is 
allowed to remain in it, and both circumstances may occur 
quite irrespective of the particular process employed. 

The following are said to be analyses by Dr. Grace 
Calvert of the kinds of London flour, namely, the 
ordinary seconds flour and Hart's whole-meal flour : — 

No. 62. 





Seconds 






Hart's Meal 


Water 


. 14-73 


per 


cent. 


14-33 per cent 


Starch 


65-18 


„ 




48-27 „ 


Gluten and albumen 


10-31 


>i 




1987 „ 


Sugar, gum and oil 


7-01 


„ 




4-01 „ 


Vegetable fibr.J . 


1-42 


,; 




11-86 „ 


Mineral oils 


1-04 






1-66 „ 



WHEATEN FLOUR AND BREAD. 181 

In Hart's meal there is the indigestible vegetable 
fibre of the husk to the extent of nearly 12 per cent., 
which is nearly 10^ per cent, more than in the seconds 
flour, and replaces the more nutritions starch of the 
latter. There is a much greater proportion of nitro- 
genous elements in the former than in the latter, 
due to the presence of the inner layers of the husk 
and to the better quality of the flour submitted to 
analysis. 

Mr. Hart sees an advantage in the presence of the 
indigestible fibre on the ground that it gives volume to 
the faeces, but if it be so, ' Jonathan ' would be cheaper 
and as effectual. 

The ultimate composition of good seconds flour is as 
follows, besides oxygen and hydrogen, per cent. : — 

No. 63. 
C. 38 N. 1-72 

The proximate composition is in 100 parts : — 

"Water 15 Albuminous and allied substances 10-8 Starch 66*3 
Sugar 4-2 Eat 2 Salts 17 

The quantity of carbon and nitrogen which is con- 
tained in 1 lb. of flour is 2,656 and 120 grains. 

Ten grains of wheaten flour when thoroughly burnt 
in the body produce sufiicient heat to raise 9*87 lbs. of 
water 1° ¥., which is equal to lifting 7,623 lbs. 1 foot 
high. 



CHAPTER XXY. 

WHEATEN BBEAD, BISCUITS, AND PUDDINGS. 

The most important use of wheat flour is in the manu- 
facture of bread. 

l^he mode of preparation of bread is essentially the 
same everywhere. It consists in the gradual but 



182 NITKOaENOUS VEGETABLE rOOD3. 

thoroiigli admixture of flour, water, and salt in proper 
proportions so as to produce dough, which, is sub- 
sequently placed in a heated oven until sufficiently 
baked. 

The water employed is somewhat warmed, and, in 
preparing some fancy kinds of bread, milk is wholly or 
partially substituted for it. The use of the water is to 
cause the expansion of the starch cells and to give a 
convenient and agreeable consistence to the bread after 
it has been baked. Salt is used as a condiment, and 
supplies the hydrochloric acid and soda which are 
insufficiently provided by natural foods. Heat is re- 
quired to cause the rupture of the starch cells and to 
promote the rapid evaporation of superfluous water. 
Hence the action of these agencies on the flour is 
physical and not chemical, or, if chemical, only in a 
slight degree. 

When loaves of bread are required it is needful to 
lighten the mass of dough by the introduction of air or 
other gas, so that it may assume a spongy character, 
and be readily broken up by the teeth when baked. 
This has usually been effected by fermentation set up in 
the dough on the introduction of yeast, when the starch 
being partially converted into sugar or diastase, car- 
bonic acid gas is eliminated and dispersed through the 
mass. When the admixture of ^^east and flour has 
been perfectly accomplished, the action of fermentation 
is set up equally in all parts, and the mass is permeated 
throughout by small bubbles of a tolerably uniform 
size ; but when the yeast has not been well mixed with 
the flour, there is an accumulation of gas in the parts 
exposed to its action, which disfigures the bread by large 
vacuities, whilst there is little or no action elsewhere. 
The process requires a certain time for its completion, 
but it is stimulated by heat, so that it is customary to 



WHEATEN BREAD, BISCUITS, AND PUDDINGS. 183 

place the mixture in a warm place and to add the luke- 
warm water containing- the yeast little by little to the 
flour. Hence this action is chemical and causes a loss 
of a portion of the nutritive parts of the flour. 

The introduction of the German yeast has been of 
great service in the preparation of home-made bread, 
because it may be purchased daily and rarely fails to 
produce good fermentation. 

Brewers' yeast is attainable in country villages only 
at irregular periods and will not keep good for more 
than a day or two ; but it has recently been ascertained 
that if it be made into a thick syrup with sugar, it may 
be kept for weeks or months. The same process may 
be carried on with even better effect with German yeast, 
since it contains much less water. 

A successful effort has been made to obviate the 
waste of nutriment by pumping carbonic acid gas into 
the dough and thus to make it as light as when acted 
upon by fermentation. This is known as Dr. Dauglish's 
process, and the method has been so perfected that the 
whole dough is evenly permeated by the air in the 
course of a few minutes, and a very uniform aspect 
given to the bread. 

The gas is supplied in the water to the dough thus : 
— There are two strong iron vessels each capable of 
sustaining a pressure of 120 lbs. on the square inch, of 
which one is the mixer and the other the. water vessel 
containing water to be charged by compression with 
the gas. The mixer receives the flour, and being fur- 
nished with arms is ready to mix it with the water. 
Water containing a proportion of common salt having 
been introduced into the water vessel is charo-ed with 
the gas under great pressure until a proper quantity of 
gas has been absorbed. The communication is then 
opened between^ the two vessels, and the charged water 



184 NITEUGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

is admitted to the mixer whilst at the same time the 
arms of the mixer are set in miotion and the water and 
flour are rapidly mixed together. During this part of 
the process the gas not actually in solution becomes 
liberated from the water and permeates the bread, whilst 
the prepared dough is squirted out of the mixer and 
made into loaves for the oven. 

This process is, I think, the greatest improvement of 
our timo in the manufacture of bread, for it leaves the 
chemical constituents of the flour intact, and there is 
not only a greater proportion of bread produced by it, 
but none of that which remains has been deteriorated 
by chemical decomposition. It is of course very 
desirable that the gas thus introduced should be 
pure. 

The same effect is produced by yet another method, 
viz., the introduction of a gas-generating mixture into , 
the dough. Thus, if carbonate of soda be well mixed 
with the flour in its dry state, and tartaric acid or weak 
hydrochloric acid added to the water, the incorporation 
of the two will be accompanied by the union of the 
tv\ro chemical substances and evolution of gas. There 
are, however, two disadvantages in this procedure 
which prevent its general use, viz., the uncertainty as 
to the uniform distribution of the chemicals and the 
retention of the tartrate of soda in the bread. The 
former may lead to an uneven levigation of the bread, 
by which parts of the mass would be comparatively 
sodden or tough, or there may be lumps of the 
chemicals in various parts, which give a slightly yellow 
colour and a disagreeable flavour. The tartrate of soda 
is not usually injurious to health, but it is not required 
by the system, and does not improve the flavour of 
bread. Moreover, if the mass thus levigated be not 
baked with sufiicient rapidity, or if it be over- baked, the 



WHEATEJ^ BREAD, BI8CUITS, AND PUDDINGS. 185 

gas will escape, and tlie bread will be less light than is 
desirable. 

When it is desired to add anything to the bread, as, 
for example, the phosphates of soda, in McDougall's 
process before mentioned, it is mixed with the flour or 
dissolved in the water, or sea water may be used. 

The method of mixing the ingredients to make the 
dough was formerly by hand in small bakings, and by 
treading the mass with the feet in large ones, but the 
invention of Mr. Stevens has provided an apparatus by 
which the dough is mixed by curved iron levers, which 
move the mass in a concentric manner when the axle is 
rotated. This process is free from objection on the 
score of uncleanliness and is very expeditious. 

Thus the process of bread making is complete when 
the starch cells have been ruptured and the mass ren- 
dered capable of easy and agreeable mastication ; and 
it is not essential that there should be any chemical 
change in the flour itself. The degree, however, in 
which these results occur may vary with the wish of 
the operator. To produce a very light bread the 
mass must be more completely permeated by the air or 
gas, and if this be eff'ected by fermentation, a much 
larger proportion of the starch will be destroyed in the 
operations; or the bread may be highly baked, and 
both these conditions are more commonly found in the 
long bread of the Continental than in the thick loaves 
of the English people. The economical aspect of this 
question is evident, but the process may not materially 
interfere with the digestibility of the bread, for in 
either case it may be capable of ready mastication. 

If, however, the bread contain too much water, it 
may not only be less agreeable to the taste, but less 
capable of being masticated and digested ; or if it be 
over baked it may have lost much of its nutritive 



186 NITEOGENOUS VEGETABLE POODS. 

value, and also be less capable of ready mastication. 
English bread is inoister than French, bat it should 
be always so dry as to crumble between the fingers, 
and it is usually more friable than the French bread. 
The art of baking consists both in the due preparation 
of the dough and the degree of moisture which should 
remain in the bread. 

These conditions materially affect the weight of 
bread to be obtained from a given weight of flour, but, 
it must be added, that according to the quality of the 
flour will be the weight of water which it will take up 
and retain in the process. Flour produced from wheat 
of the finest quality, and in hot summers, or in hot 
countries, takes up much water, and is known as strong 
flour, the strength being due to the larger amount of 
nitrogenous elements which it possesses ; but sprouted 
corn, or the produce of cold climates and cold summers, 
yields flour of the contrary tendency. 

Moreover, of the different kinds of flour produced 
from the same wheat, the finest will absorb the greatest 
quantity of water, and produce the greatest weight of 
bread. This increase is, however, due to • the water, 
and so far the economy of the operation is only 
apparent ; but if the wheat itself be of the finest quality, 
there will be also a substantial advantage. 

When good seconds fiour is used, as is ordinarily the . 
case in England, and the bread is baked in the usual 
degree, 14 lbs. of flour will produce 19 lbs. or 19^ lbs. of 
bread, or a sack of 250 lbs. produces 95 four-pound 
loaves, or even more ; but if with the same degree of 
baking the finest fiour derived from the finest wheat be 
employed, the weight of bread will be 1 lb. per peck 
or stone more. When the baking is carried to the 
usual degree observed in French bread, the quantity 
from 14 lbs. of the finest flour will be not more, but 



WHEATEN BREAD, BISCUITS, AND PUDDINGS. 187 

frequently less, than that from the seconds flour when 
made into English bread ; but whether 18 lbs. of French 
bread will contain as much nutriment as 20 lbs. of 
English bread will also depend upon the degree to 
which the process of fermentation was carried. Where 
neither real nor apparent economy is of essential 
moment, it is certainly desirable to select the finest 
flour and to bake the bread well ; but when bread is 
baked for the market, or when a loaf must be cut 
up into a given number of rations, it will be more pro- 
fitable to use seconds flour of moderate quality, and to 
rather under than over bake it. 

When bread is baked in very small cakes, it is usual 
to levigate it by adding carbonate of soda or ammonia, 
but although this will lighten the mass it will not im- 
prove the flavour of the cake. The varieties of bread 
made as cakes a,re almost infinite, and not unfrequently 
milk and other foods are added which increase its 
flavour and richness. 

There is an impression that newly-made bread is less 
digestible and healthful than that which has been kept 
for a certain time, and Avhen this is so, it is not due to 
any diff'erence in composition, but to a degree of tough- 
ness which renders the bread less capable of mastica- 
tion, whilst after bread has been kept for a short time 
it has lost some of its water and is more friable. It 
varies, however, with the quality of the wheat and the 
mode of pre]3aration. Bread made from unsound 
wheat is always more difiicult to masticate than 
from good wheat, and the better the flour the more 
easily may the bread be masticated. When bread is 
made with yeast, and particularly if the process of fer- 
mentation have been insufficient, the difficulty of masti- 
cation will be greater than when it is aerated or made 
* short ' by the addition of milk or baking powder. 



L88 NITROGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

The mode of manufacture has no doubt caused a 
change in this respect, for formerly country and home- 
made bread was improved by being kept a few days, 
whilst the baker's bread of the present day need not be 
kept longer than one day. 

It is probable that new and hot bread is eaten rapidly 
and with less mastication than old bread, and is con- 
sequently swallowed in lumps, so that the saliva, which 
is the transforming agent, has not acted upon the 
whole mass. In such a case the bread will lie in the 
stomach unchanged for an unusual time. 

The preparation of biscuits is now a very important 
trade, and the variety of the articles render the manu- 
facture a very interesting process. Huntley and 
Palmer's manufactory at Reading may be quoted as an 
example of variety, and well repays a visit; whilst the 
gi^eat ship biscuit factories in our dockyards show the 
simple process on a very large scale. 

These are for the most part unleavened, and must be 
baked in thin masses, and highly dried, so that they 
may be broken by the teeth in mastication, and be 
fitted to resist atmospheric changes for years if kept dry. 
When, however, they are exposed to damp air or to the 
action of water, they lose their brittleness and become 
mouldy, so that it is usual to carefully enclose them in 
tins or well-made casks for use in distant countries. 

The process of preparation is yet more simple than 
that of bread, since it is needful only to well mix the 
flour with the water or milk, and to add salt, butter, 
sugar, and any other flavouring or colouring matter 
that may be desired, until a dough of sufficient con- 
sistency shall have been produced. This is collected 
in receivers and j)ut through a series of rollers to be 
reduced to the proper thickness, after which it is cut 
by machines into the desired sizes and forms, and is 



WHEATEN BREAD, BISCUITS, AND PUDDINGS 189 

either baked in tins or passed througli ovens on an end- 
less band until sufficiently dried. 

The fancy kinds of biscuits require special manipu- 
lation, in order to add the decorations, and this is done 
with great rapidity upon the cut paste before behig 
passed through the oven. 

The various kinds having been thus prepared, are 
mixed in certain proportions, or retained separately, to 
be packed in tins or casks. 

The fancy kinds are eaten as luxuries in health, but, 
in the feebleness of disease, are often of great value, 
and may be strictly necessaries. The ordinary kinds 
are very convenient foods, as to carriage and keeping, 
and contain a much larger proportion of nutriment than 
the same weight of bread ; but they are more difficult 
to masticate, and, by reason of their dryness, more 
difficult to digest when eaten. It is desirable that the 
process of mastication should be perfect, and that there 
should be plenty of fluid in tli£ stomach to ensure their 
rapid solution. Hence, notwithstanding their nutritive 
value, plain biscuits are not preferred to good bread, 
and although they may be necessaries they are not 
luxuries. 

The other chief uses of wheaten flour are in the 
preparation of puddings and pastry. When flour is 
sprinkled into boiling water, and boiled for a time, 
the cells of starch become ruptured, and an agreeable 
hasty-pudding is made. This is usually eaten hot, with 
butter and sugar, or milk; but it should be well boiled 
a-nd well stirred during the process, both to complete 
the rupture of the cells and to prevent the burning of 
the substance. 

It is customary in Somersetshire to make dumplings 
of unleavened dough of thinner consistence than foi" 
the manufacture of bread; and, strange to say, the 



190 NITEOaENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

people like them. In other parts of the country the 
dongh is leavened, and if the dumpling be boiled care- 
fully, it remains light. In neither case is the food very 
easy of mastication and digestion, for it is tough and 
not easily broken up by the teeth ; but the latter is to 
be preferred. 

It is, however, far more common to mix the flour 
with fat when making puddings, pie crusts, or pastry, 
either with or without the addition of soda or ammonia. 
Where suet is added, it is usually cut into very small 
pieces, and lightly mixed with the flour, so that the two 
are rather mixed than incorporated, and such a compo- 
sition is agreeable, and readily masticated and digested. 
When lard, butter, or dripping is added in the prepa- 
ration of pastry, it is usually closely incorporated, not 
only by kneading but by rolling the dough, and ulti- 
mately there are many layers in one crust. Such a 
crust, when baked, is easily broken to pieces, but not 
easily pulverised or ground into a pulpy mass by the 
teeth, and the eater very commonly swallows flakes of 
a comparatively large size. Thus there is a mechanical 
cause for the in digestibility of pastry ; but there is also 
a chemical cause, viz., the imperfect application of the 
saliva to the starchy matter when envelo]3ed in fat, by 
which the first step in the conversion of starch into 
sugar is prevented. From these two proceed the evil 
results so frequently experienced. Hence, very rich 
crusts are not desirable, and when they are eaten should 
be very patiently and thoroughly masticated. 

The preparation of macaroni, from fine wheat flour, 
requires a notice. It is now, as it has been for ages, 
a chief food of the inhabitants of Naples and Southern 
Italy, and is prepared simply by selecting the finest 
flour, making it into a very thin paste, and gently 
drying or baking it, so th^.t it may keep good for future 



WHEATEN BREAD, BISCUITS, AND PUDDINGS. 191 

use. Yarions jpdtes used in soup are made from the 
same kind of paste. 

It appears that in the fourteenth century we had 
acquired a knowledge of this food, as is shown by the 
following recipe for macaroni au gratin : — 

'Maccoros. 

* Take and make a thynne foyle of dowh, and Kerve it on 
peces and cast hem on boillyng wat and Seethe it wele. take 
chese & grate it and butt caste bynethen and above as losyns, 
and sue forth.' 

The ultimate chemical composition of English bread, 
made from good seconds flour, is, besides oxygen and 
hydrogen, per cent. : — 

No. 64. 
C. 28-5 N. 1-29 

The proximate elements in 100 parts are : — 

Water 37 Albiiminous and allied substances 8-1 Starch 47*4 
Sugar 3-6 Eat. 1-6 Salts 2-3 

The quantity of nitrogen and carbon in 1 lb. of bread 
baked in the ordinary English manner is 92 and 1,968 
grains. 

The time required for the digestion of bread is 3^ to 
4 hours. Ten grains of dryish bread, when burnt in the 
body, produce sufficient heat to raise 5-52 lbs. of water 
1° E., which is equal to lifting 4,263 lbs. one foot high. 

The effect of eating 4 oz. of white home-made wheaten 
bread was to give maxima of increase in the quantity 
of carbonic acid evolved of 1*48 grain and 2*4 grains 
per minute on different persons. The quantity of air 
inspired was increased by 60 cubic inches per minute. 
The influence was very enduring. (No. 95.) 

The law of this country inflicts penalties for the adul- 
teration of bread, and prescribes that when ordinary 
bread is sold over the counter it shall be sold by weight, 



192 NITROGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

SO that a quartern loaf shall weigh 4 lbs., and half a 
quartern loaf 2 lbs. ; and the price of the loaf varies only 
■with the price of flour. 

This subject has always attracted the attention of 
Governments, so that in the reign of Edward TV. we 
find it stated that the Lord Mayor ' did sharpe correc- 
tion upon bakers for making bread otherwise than of 
floure and light of weight, and caused divers of them 
to be put in the pillory.^ 

At a later period the assize of bread by the Court 
of Mayor and Aldermen of London prescribed the weight 
and price of bread, as shown in the following precept, 
copied from a Bill of Mortality, No. 28, London, Tues- 
day, the 27th day of June, 1775 : — 

' Wilkes, Mayor. 

The Assize of Bread, set forth this 13th day of 
*■ London, June, 1775, by order of the Court of Mayor and 
to wit. Aldermen of the said city, to commence and take 
place on Thursday next, and to be observed and 
kept until the further order of the Lord Mayor of the said 
city, or the said Court of Mayor and Aldermen, by all persons 
who shall make, or bake for sale, any bread within the 'juris- 
diction of the said Court of Mayor and Aldermen, that is to say, 

lb. oz. dr. 

The penny loaf, or two half-penny fWheaten 8 11 

loaves, to weigh . . . \ Household Oil 9 

rru * ^ f rWheaten 1 1 6 

The two-penny loaf . . . | Household 1 7 3 

_ - IP /Wheaten 1 10 1 

The three-penny loaf . . . | Household 2 2 12 

To he sold for : — 

lb. oz. dr. s. d. f. 

, , r ^ • 1 1 IT c A /Wheaten 2 8 

The peck loaf, to weigh j> 17 6 | Household 2 

The half-peck loaf . } 8 11 {1^::'^,^ } ^ ^ 

, , . \ . ^ „ fWheaten 8 

The quartern loaf . | 4 5 8 ^Household 6 



WH EATEN BREAD, BISCUITS, AND PUDDINGS. 193 

]SJoTE. — All loaves, if complained of, must be weighed before 
ft magistrate within twenty-four hours after baking, or ex- 
posing thereof to sale, and must be according to the respective 
weights in the above table. 

Sixteen drachms make an ounce, and sixteen ounces a 
pound. 

Item. — It is hereby ordered and appointed that no person 
v.ithin the jurisdiction aforesaid shall, after Wednesday next, 
until the further order of the Lord Mayor, or of the said Court 
of Mayor and Aldermen, make, or bake for sale, or sell or 
expose to or for sale within the jurisdiction aforesaid, any 
half-quartern loaves. 

And the better to distinguish and ascertain the two sorts of 
bread hereby ordered to be made, one from the otlier, there 
is to be imprinted and marked on every loaf of bread which 
shall be made, sold, carried out, or exposed to or for sale 
within the jurisdiction aforesaid as wheaten bread, a large 
Roman W ; and on every loaf of bread which shall be made, 
sold, carried out, or exposed to or for sale within the jurisdic- 
tion aforesaid, as household bread, a large Roman H. And 
the penalty for every omission is twenty shillings. 

R. I. X. 

The price of salt, set by order of the Court of Lord Mayor 
and Aldermen, dated the 21st of October, 1735, is five shillings 
the bushel, 56 lbs. to the bushel, and so in proportion for any 
lesser quantity ; and whosoever shall sell at a higher price, or 
shall refuse to sell at the price aforesaid, forfeits five pounds.' 



CHAPTER XXYI. 

BARLEY, MASLLN AND RYE— SCOTCH AND PEARL 
BARLEY— GL UTEN. 

Barley {Hordeum) is now rarely used in this country 
for the preparation of solid food, but is chiefly devoted 
to the preparation of malt and the manufacture of ales 



194 NITEOGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

and spirits. It is, however, eaten as bread in certain 
parts of South Wales and in the Northern Counties, 
and is sometimes added to wheat flour in making brown 
bread. It is also largely eaten, and is still the ordinary 
farinaceous food of the peasantry and soldiers in certain 
parts of the Continent, and in parts of India and other 
Eastern countries. 

When used whole as food it is first parched, as in 
many districts of India, and was so given by Boaz to 
Euth, and referred to at a yet earlier period. Mrs. Finn 
writes from Palestine : — ' It is still usual for reapers, 
during barley harvest, to take bunches of the half 
ripe wheat, and singe or parch it over a fire of thorns. 
The milk being still in the grain it is very sweet, and 
is considered a delicacy.' When baked into bread it 
has a brown colour, and although rough it has a 
sweetness and a moist consistence which are not dis- 
agreeable. It is sometimes adulterated with ' Jonathan.' 

The composition of barley -meal is as follows, in 100 
parts : — 

No. 65. 

Water 15 Albuminous and allied substances 63 Starch 69-4 

Sugar 4-9 Fat 2-4 Salts 2-0 

The quantity of carbon and nitrogen in 1 lb. of barley- 
meal is carbon 2,500 grains, nitrogen 93 grains. 

Hence it is not equal in nutritive value to wheaten 
bread, but its cost being less it is possible to obtain 
more nutriment from that source for a given sum 
than from wheaten bread. As, however, there is good 
reason to believe that a larger proportion passes off by 
the bowel undigested, it may be really a less economical 
food. When it is added in small quantity to the 
whole-meal bread made of wheat, it certainly keeps the 
bread moist, and improves the flavour. 

The special quality which it possesses is its ready 



BAELEY— MASLIN AND RYE— SCOTCH BAELEY, ETC. 195 

ccnversion into saccliarine matter in the process of 
malting, as will be described in the chapter on beer, 
while it is also well fitted to produce alcoholic spirit 
and other elements of ale. 

The German Weiss-hier is made from a mixture of 
wheat and barley. 

A mixture of barley meal and wheat flour is in very 
general use among the poorer (not the poorest) classes 
in India, the proportion of each being equal, as at 
Gonda, or one-quarter barley meal and three-quarters 
wheat flour as at Bareilly, or one-seventh barley meal 
and six-sevenths wheat flour as in Meerut, and often- 
times the husks of both grains remain in the meal. 

Scotch and pearl barley appear to be very diff'erent 
foods from ordinaiy barley, and in fact they are used 
rather as rice than barley. They are never made into 
meal or bread, but are used whole in puddings, and seem 
from their flavour and thickening j)roperties to occupy 
a position between wheat and rice. They are, however, 
prepared from one of the species of barley by the 
removal of the husk, as in the instance of the Scotch 
barley, and by farther polishing and rounding, as in 
the pearl barley. They are much approved as a farina- 
ceous and mucilaginous ingredient in puddings, and 
when prepared with new milk and flavoured with sugar, 
if not spices, produce a delicate and delicious food. 

The ultimate chemical composition is as follows^ 
besides oxygen and hydrogen, per cent. : — 

No. 66. 
C. 38 N. 1-3 

The quantity of carbon and nitrogen in one pound is 
2,656 and 91 grains. 

The time required for their digestion when boiled is 
twice that of rice, viz., two hours, but less than that of 
wheat. 



196 NITEOGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

Maslin is a mixed product grown in Yorkshire and 
other northern districts of England, and is composed of 
two or three parts of wheat and one part of rye ; but it 
is not very extensively used at the present time. 
Neither rye nor barley is preferred to wheat in the 
production of bread, for the colour of the bread is less 
wdiite and the flavour is rougher than that of white 
wheaten bread. Moreover, as rye is inferior to wheat 
in nutritive elements the mixed product is less valuable 
than wheaten flour alone, so that it is only as an inferior 
food selling at a lower price than wheat that it is 
accepted. At the same time the admixture of rye with 
wheat is not disagreeable as a change of food, and bread 
prepared from maslin is more agreeable, if not more 
nutritious, than that from thirds or fourths wheaten 
flour. 

Rye {Secale cereale) is grown on light soils in various 
parts of the country ; but chiefly in the north of England. 
It is, however, a product of less importance now than 
formerly, since bread is rarely if ever made in England 
fi^om rye flour alone, and when it is used it is mixed 
with wheaten flour. It is inferior to wheaten flour in 
nutritive properties, flavour and digestibility, but it is 
still used in some parts of the Continent and particu- 
larly in Russia. 

The Russians also use this grain for the preparation 
of a fermented liquor called Quass. 

The following is the composition of rye meal in 100 
parts : — 

No. 67. 
Water 150 Nitrogenous 8'0 Starch 69-5 Sugar 37 Fat 2-0 

Salts 1-8 

There are 2,660 grains of carbon and 88 grains of 
nitrogen in 1 lb. of the meal. 

A diseased state of this grain is the well-known and 



GLUTEN. 197 

highly poisonous ergot of rye {Secale cornutum), by 
which many persons have been poisoned. It is a valu- 
able medicine, but when taken incautiously produces 
convulsions and gangrene. 

Gluten. 
This is a most important part of food, and represents 
the nitrogenous element of grain to an extent varying 
from nine to sixteen per cent. It may be obtained by 
washing the flour of wheat or any other grain until all 
the starch has been removed, when it is a tenacious 
colourless substance, known in ancient times as birdlime 
and used for catching birds. It can scarcely be regarded 
in this state as a food, since it is not agreeable, neither 
can it be entirely masticated. As, however, it is so 
important a principle of food, it was desirable to deter- 
mine its influence, and after eating all the gluten which 
could be washed out of four ounces of wheaten flour, we 
found-it- produce a maximum increase of 0*84 grain 
of carbonic acid and of 11 cubic inches of air per 
minute in the respiration. It may be added, that in 
this effect it is very similar to albumen, gelatin, and 
other animal compounds, having the same chemical 
constitution. Hence gluten is an excitor of the respi- 
ration in a degree beyond the respiratory material 
which it supplies. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

SUCCULENT VEGETABLES. 

The class of succulent vegetables is a very large one, 
and is valuable both for its nutritive and saline consti- 
tuents, by which it is at once a food and a medicine. 
It will not be possible for us to enter into very large 



198 NITROGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

detail, but it will suffice to group tlie various members of 
the class in three divisions: one of which will be repre- 
sented bj the Potato, the second by Cabbage, and the 
third by Mushrooms and Lichens. 

A. — Potato and simila.r Foods. 

Of all kinds of fresh vegetables grown in temperate 
climates, none is so valuable as the potato X8olanum 
tuberosum), when we have regard to its agreeable flavour 
and nutritive and medicinal qualities, so that it is eaten 
daily by almost every family, and with the addition of 
butter-milk or skim-milk, was until recently nearly the 
sole support of a whole nation. 

It was introduced into this country from Chili in the 
sixteenth century ; but in hot climates it is very gene- 
rally supplanted by the sweet potato, artichoke, and 
similar vegetables ; and in the Arctic regions, oil and 
other animal foods are substituted for it. Hence it may 
be said to be practically excluded from the hottest and 
coldest parts of our globe, whilst in reference to more 
moderate temperatures it may be remarked that it^ is 
influenced by comparatively slight conditions of soil 
and climate, for it grows of very diff'erent qualities in 
various parts of this country, and is a better crop in Tas- 
mania than in the neighbouring continent of Australia. 

The best known varieties of potato do not differ very 
greatly in chemical composition, and are selected less on 
that ground than according to the taste of the indi- 
vidual as to the hardness or mealiness of the tuber after 
it has been cooked ; yet there is some difi'erence in 
flavour which influences the selection. Thus some are 
called waxy or water}^, as, for example, young potatoes, 
and those grown in the bog lands of Ireland and Scot- 
land, whilst others are mealy, as the York Regents, 
grown in Yorkshire and other parts of this country. 



SUCCULENT VEGETABLES. 199 

The varieties which are brought into the market are too 
numerous to warrant a reference to them here, but it 
may be added that but few vegetables have received and 
rewarded better selection and cultivation. 

The proximate elements necessarily vary much with 
the season, kind, ripeness, and soil, so that the analyses 
differ much among themselves, but a good average com- 
2)osition per cent, may be stated as follows : — 

No. 68. 
Water 75 Nitrogen 2-1 Starch 18-8 Sugar 3-2 

Fat 0-2 Salts 07 

The ultimate composition, besides oxygen and hydro* 
gen, may be stated to be, per cent. : — 

No. 69. 
C. 11 N. 35 

The relative value of potatoes is determined in a 
general manner by their specific gravity, just as a similar 
estimation is made of an apple or an orange by weigh- 
ing it in the hand, for the heavier in relation to bulk is 
any given potato, so is the greater amount of starch. 
If several potatoes be thrown into a strong solution of 
salt, and water be added until some of them sink and 
others swim, the specific gravity of the saline solution 
will be that of the potatoes as a whole. 

J. J. Pohl found the following relation between the 
specific gravity and the proportion of starch : — 

No. 70. 



Sp. Gr. 
1-090 


Starch in 100 parts 
16-38 


1-093 


1711 


1-099 


18-43 


1101 


18-98 


1-107 


20-45 


1-110 


21-32 


1-123 


24-14 



The quantity of ash or saline materials present in 



200 



NITKOGENOU!^ VEGETABLE FOODS. 



100 parts of the fresli potato, varies with the kind, as 
shown by T. J. Herepath. Thns : — 

No. 71. 

Fortyfold 0-88 Prince's Beauty 1-06 Maggie 1-09 

Axbridge Kidney 1-27 White apple l-3(> 

The proportion of potash in the salts of potato is 
very large, and does not vary much in the several 
specimens examined, the limits being 53-03 per cent, in 
the Fortyfold, and 55*73 per cent, in the Maggie. 

Potatoes are deficient in mineral matter, so that they 
are unfit to be a sole food, but that defect is supplied 
by the addition of hard water, milk, and other elements 
of food. 

There are 760 grains of carbon and 24 grains of 
nitrogen in 1 lb. ; so that more than 2^ lbs. of potato 
are required to equal 1 lb. of bread in carbon, and more 
than 3^ lbs. in nitrogen. Hence when potatoes are 
Id. per lb., and bread l^d. per lb., the former are two to 
three times dearer than the latter, but the former are 
valuable for their juices in addition to their nutritive 
elements. 

New and waxy are said to be less digestible than 
old and mealy potatoes, but the time required for diges- 
tion may be regarded as nearly 
the same as for bread, viz., 
from 2 J to 3 J hours. 

The potato disease, which 
produced so much distress in 
Ireland and elsewhere, was 
accompanied by the produc- 
tion of a fungus and the de- 
struction of starch in the 
starch cells, as is represented 
in the following drawings. 



No. 72.— Potato. 
A- 




The healthy cells of the Potato (a) 
filled with starch cells (6). 



SUCCULENT VEGETABLES. 



201 




B The game after the process of germina- ''^ '" 

tion or in a state of disease, when the C. The fungus in the diseased potato is sho'wn 

starch cells have been removed, except at (6), and the healthy starch cells (if any) 

at (a). at ^a). 

The kinds of potatoes which were found in Cam- 
bridgeshire to be the least subject to the disease were 
Myatt's Ash-leaf Kidney, the River Royal Kidney, the 
Nonpareil Prolific, and the Rock. 

10 grains of potato consumed in the body produce 
heat sufficient to raise 2*6 lbs. of water 1° F., or to lift 
1,977 lbs. one foot high. 

Potatoes and similar vegetables should be well cooked, 
with a considerable degree of heat. If it be intended 
to boil them, they should be placed at once in hot 
water ; and if to be roasted, the oven should be mode- 
rately hot, and care taken lesfc they should burn. When 
peeled and soaked in cold water a larger proportion of 
the fecula will be extracted than is desirable, and with 
a slow oven the peel will be hardened and thickened. 

The water in which potatoes have been boiled is not 
used as food, for it is not only nearly destitute of 
nutritive matter, but is said to contain substances which 
are deleterious to health. 

In my experiments, the effect of eating good pota- 
toes, whether hew or old, was less than that of rice. 



202 OTTKOGENOUS VEQETABLE FOODS. 

In two experiments 8 ounces increased the carbonic 
acid evolved in the respiration by 1'27 grain per 
minute, and the quantity of air inspired by 52 cubic 
inches per minute. The rate of pulsation and respira- 
tion was slightly lowered. (Phil. Trans. 1859.) 

There are many vegetable productions which some- 
what resemble potatoes in flavour or quality, and are 
not very inferior to them as food, to which we will 
now briefly refer. 

The sweet potato {Batatas edidis) is rarely used, 
although it is not unknown in this country ; but is in 
daily use in Central America, and in many other hot 
countries where the common potato does not grow or 
cannot be obtained. 

The yucca {Manihot utilissima), from which arrow- 
root is obtained, is not a bad substitute for potato, 
and is in common use in Central America and India. 

The yam {Dioscorea alata) is a similar food, and grows 
over a very extended area. It is particularly ap- 
preciated by the negroes, but Europeans do not prefer 
it to the potato. 

The Dioscorea hatatas, or Chinese yam, has the follow- 
ing composition, per cent., according to Fremy : — 

No. 73. 
Water 79-3 Starch 16 Nitrogenous 2-5 Eat, &c. M Salts M 

The Dioscorea sativa is said by Suersen to have 
23 per cent, of starch. 

The common artichoke {Gynara Scolymus) and the 
Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuherosus) (perhaps so 
called as a corruption of the Italian name Girasole or 
Sunturner) are well known foods, both in temperate and 
hot climates, and are highly nutritious, whether cooked 
alone or made into soup. They contain a large 
amount of salts, of which, 55*9 per cent, is potash, in 



SUCCULENT VEGETABLES. 203 

the Jerusalem artichoke, whilst there are potash, soda, 
lime and magnesia, with sulphuric and phosphoric acid, 
with silica and salts of iron. The leaves are used as 
fodder for cattle in the United States of America, and 
contain salts which yield 40 per cent, of lime. 

There are numerous plants in Chili and the neigh- 
bouring States, which produce edible tubers somewhat 
resembling the common potato, such as the Ullucus 
tuherosus, Oxalis crenata or tuherosa, and Arracacha 
esculenta. In North America the tubers of the A'pios 
tuherosa and the prairie turnip, which are twining 
plants of the leguminous order, are eaten as food. 

The great value of such tubers as food is well shown 
by the contrast in the chemical composition of the 
apios and the potato as made by Payen : — 

No. 74. 





Apios 


Potato 


Nitrogenous matter . . , 


. 4-5 


1-7 


Fatty matter .... 


0-8 


0-1 


Starch, sugar, pectose, &c. 


33-55 


21-2 


Cellulose and epidermis . 


1-3 


1-5 


Inorganic matter 


. 2-25 


1-1 


Water 


. 57-8 


74-4 



Turnips vary in nutritive qualities and flavour, so 
tha,t the Swede variety is far more nutritive than the 
white, but the fl.avour of the latter kind is preferred as 
the food of man. They are also much less valuable as 
occasional foods than carrots and parsnips. The follow- 
ing is the ultimate composition of turnips and carrots : — 

No. 75. 
Turnips 



Swede 


White 




Carbon ... 4.5 


3-2 


5o per cent. 


Nitrogen ... 0-22 


0-18 


0-2 „ 



The following is the quantity of carbon and nitrogen 
(in grains) contained in 1 lb. : — 



204 



NITKOGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 



No. 76. 



Turnips 



Carbon 
Nitrogen 



Swede 
304 
15-3 


^Vhite 
173 
11-2 


384 
14 



The proximate elements in 100 parts are : — 



No. 77. 



Turnips 
Carrots. 
Parsnips 



•{ 



Water 91 


Nitrogenous 1*2 


Starch 5-1 


Sugar 2-1 


Fat 


Salts 0-6 


Water 83 


Nitrogenous 1*3 


Starch 8-4 


Sugar 6-1 


Fat 0-2 


Salts 1-0 


Water 82 


Nitrogenous Tl 


Starch 9-6 


Sugar 5-8 


Fat 0-5 


Salts ro 



The time required for the digestion of parsnips and 
carrots varies from 2^ to 3^ hours. 

Ten grains of carrot, when consumed in the body, 
produce heat sufficient to raise 1-36 lb. of water 1° F., 
which is equal to lifting 1,031 lbs. one foot high. 

Beetroot. 

This valuable food {Beta vulgaris) must be considered 
apart from other vegetables, on account of the large 
quantity of saccharine matter which it contains, a 
quantity so large as to enable our French neighbours, 
who lack sugar-producing colonies, to prepare nearly 
all their sugar from it, and even to export sugar to 
this country in competition with the cane sugar which 
we import. It is also grown extensively in Germany 
and Russia for this purpose, as well as for the distilla- 
tion of alcohol. Its production is also greatly increasing 
in this country, and has caused distilleries and sugar 
factories to be already established here. 

It has been shown that carrots and parsnips possess 
an unusual amount of sugar, but beetroot exceeds them 
in this respect. Thus the amount of sugar in parsnips, 



SUCCULENT VEGETABLES. 205 

carrots, and beetroot is 5*8, 6-1, and 8-0 to lO'O per 
cent, in their order. 

The proximate composition in 100 parts is, according 
to Payen :— 

No. 78. 

Water 83*5 Sugar 10-5 Pectose, &c. 0-8 Nitrogenous 1'5 

Salts and pecten 3-7 

There are 350 grains of carbon, and 17^ grains of 
nitix)gen in each pound. (Lawes and Gilbert.) 

The time required for its digestion is greater than 
that of similar sugar-yielding foods, and even greater 
than that of breads viz. : 3| hours. 

There are other plants used as food which are not 
tuberous, and may be called fruits or vegetables in- 
differentl}^, but as they are not eaten uncooked, we 
shall refer them to the latter, and mention a few of 
them in this place. 

The bread-fruit tree {Artocarpus incisa, and other 
varieties), growing to the size of the largest oak pro- 
vides a fruit which has so much the appearance and diet- 
etic qualities of food as to resemble fine white wheaten 
bread, and to be called bread. It grows freely in the 
Indian Archipelago and the islands of the Pacific, and 
is a chief article of food to the inhabitants. It pro- 
duces a fruit singly, or in clusters, about the size of a 
child's head, which in its early stage contains a 
thickish milk, whilst in the second stage it is fibrous 
and pulpy, and in the third juicy and rotten. It is 
edible at all its stages of development, but is usually 
cut for food in the second stage. 

This fruit is usually cooked before being eaten, and 
the process is carried on in a hole of the earth. It is 
cut into several pieces and the core removed, after 
which it is placed on heated stones for half an hour 
in layers, alternating with layers of leaves. When 



206 NITEOGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

ready for eating, it is brownish on tlie outside witli a 
yellowish pnlpy substance in the inside, resembling 
somewhat the inside of a white wheaten loaf. 

The following is its chemical composition per cent. : — 

No. 79. 
Water 63 Starch 14 Albumin 3 Gluten and woody fibre 19 

The plantain {Musa paradisiaca) bears a long fruit, 
which is cooked like other vegetables. The tree will 
produce 133 times more food in weight than the same 
space of ground could if cultivated with wheat, and 44 
times more than if planted with potatoes, but the 
nutriment is not equal to that of wheat. 

The milky juices contain very valuable salts as shown 
by the following analysis, per cent. : — 

No. 80. 
Potash 25-27 Soda 9-52 Lime 15*85 Magnesia 5*0 

Alumina 0*87 Chlorine 6*3 Sulphuric anhydride 0-96 

Phosphoric anhydride 087 Silica 0-81 and Carbonic anhydride 34*17 

The horse plantain grows in India, and on the Zan- 
zibar coast, and bears a fruit a foot in length filled with 
hard black seeds, which are fried in butter and eaten. 

The kemmaye is described by Burckhardt, in his 
' Notes on the Bedouins a,nd Wahabys,' as a favourite 
dish which forms the cnief vegetable food whilst it lasts 
of those people, as also those of Damascus and Eastern 
Syria. It lies about four inches under the ground, and 
at length by growth throws up a little mound of earth, 
over which the camels may stumble. It is dug up and 
boiled in milk or water until it forms a paste over 
which butter is poured, or it is eaten when washed with 
butter. There are three species, distinguished by their 
colour, viz., black, white, and red, but all alike resemble 
the truffle in shape and appearance. 



SUCCULENT VEGETABLES. 207 

B. — Cabbage and similar Green Succulent Vegetables. 

ISTumerous green vegetables as borage, radish, turnips, 
parsley, cabbage, mustard, hyssop, mint, rue, spinach, 
onions, coriander, rosemary, fennel, chervil, and also 
mushrooms were in common use in this country among 
our Saxon ancestors ; and we find the following recipe of 
the fourteenth century for the preparation of a salad, 
which in this point of view may not be without in- 
terest : — 

' Salat. 

'TakePsel, Sawge, garlee,chibori, oynons,leek, borage, myn't 
poneet, fenel, and ton tressis (cresses), rew, rosemarye, 
purslarye, lane, and waische hem. clene, pike hem, pluk he 
small wip phu (thine) hand and myng hem wel with rawe oile, 
lay on vyneg'' and salt and sae it forth.' 

This represents the least nutritious class of vegetable 
foods, and is perhaps less valuable for its direct nutritive 
elements than for its indirect and medicinal saline 
juices. With so great a variety in common use as the 
common cabbage {Brassica) ; Brussels S23routs {Brassica 
oleracea) ; brocoli [Brassica) ; turnip tops {Brassica rapa) ; 
cauliflower ; spinach {Spinachia oleracea) ; water-cress 
[Nasturtium officinale), &c., there will be some dif- 
ference in chemical composition, but for all practical 
purposes it will suffice if we take cabbage as a type of 
class in which the leaves are used as food. 

Anderson found the following difference in com- 
position in the leaves of the common cabbage per cent. : 





No. 81. 




Young Plant 


Water 


. 91-8 


Nitrogenous .... 


. 2-1 


VToody fibre, gum and sugar 


. 4-5 


Ash or salts 


. 1-6 



Ripe Outer 

Leaves 

91-1 


Ripe Heart 

Leaves 

91-4 


1-6 


0-9 


50 


4-] 


2-2 


0-6 



208 NITEOGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

It may be stated generally that there are 420 grains 
of carbon aiid 14 grains of nitrogen in 1 lb. of cabbage 
and mixed vegetables. 

It would not be possible to sustain life for a length- 
ened period upon such substances alone, since the 
quantity required to supply the requisite food woald 
exceed the rate of digestion and the limits of the human 
stomach, but they are nevertheless most agreeable and 
useful adjuncts in their season. They should be vy^ell 
cooked, and indeed it is said that they cannot be too 
much cooked, but even then they are not so quickly 
digested as certain kinds of animal food, but require 
from 24 to 4 hours. 

10 grains of cabbage when consumed in the body 
produce heat sufficient to raise 1*12 lb. of water 1° F., 
which is equal to lifting 834 lbs. one foot high. 

The Nettle {Urtica clioica), a well known weed, is some- 
times used in this country and more frequently on the 
Continent as a table vegetable in the early spring when 
it is yet young and tender, but probably less for its 
nutritive qualities than for the medicinal virtue of its 
juices. It is boiled with a little soda, and served like 
spinach, or it is perhaps more frequently boiled in water 
or milk and the juice alone eaten. 

The charlock {Sinapis arvensis) and the dandelion 
(Taraxacum officinale) may also be eaten as green vege- 
tables. 

The goatsbeard [Tragoijogon orientalis) grows near 
the line of perpetual snow, and forms a principal article 
of fresh vegetable food in the dietary of Kurdistan. 
The stem is peeled and eaten raw, and makes an agree- 
able salad in the European manner. 

Fennel [Foenicidum vulgar e) was eaten in England 
many centuries ago, and is still used as an aromatic 
vegetable in the cooking of fish, but in various Eastern 



SUCCULENT VEGETABLES. 209 

countries the stem is eaten like rhubarb stalks, and offers 
an agreeable acidity. 

Tomatos {Lycopersi'cum esculentum) may be eaten as 
a boiled vegetable or made into an agreeable sub-acid 
sauce. 

Vegetable marrows {Gucurhita) are grown very rapidly, 
and having a mild agreeable flavour are a favourite 
food. 

Cucumbers [Ciicumis] are a favourite vegetable, which 
some eat in lumps with or without the skin, whilst 
others carefully peel it, cut it up into thin slices and 
plentifully flavour it with vinegar and pepper. There 
is much diff'erence of opinion as to the digestibility and 
general wholesomeness of this food, but whilst it may 
be admitted that the flavour sometimes repeats itself in 
the mouth for some time after it has been eaten, and 
that if made acid with vinegar and eaten in large 
quantit}^, it is very apt to cause pain at the stomach, less 
evil will follow its use when cut and eaten like any 
other vegetable. It is also said that an unwholesome 
property resides in the skin, and in the fluid which 
drains from the pulp, but without good grounds. The 
seeds, which are numerous, should be removed, and the 
pulp should be well masticated. 

The pumpkin (Gucurhita) grows to an enormous size 
in both temperate and hot climates, but is not highly 
appreciated in this country as a culinary vegetable. 
It somewhat lacks flavour, and has a tendency to 
toughness, and certainly cannot compare favourably 
with the vegetable marrow and analogous plants. 
Gourds were in common use in England in the four- 
teenth century. 

Sea kale [Grambe maritima) is a delicate and even 
delicious vegetable, when grown in perfection and well 
cooked. 



210 NITROGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

Rhubarb (Bheum), is a vegetable growing rapidly and. 
yielding an agreeable sub-acid juice. It is to some 
tastes the most agreeable of its class, quite equal in 
flavour to gooseberries, apples, or other fruit which 
are usually made into pies, and it should be ranked 
with fruits rather than with ordinary garden vegetables. 
The juice yields a considerable quantity of saccharine 
matter, and makes a good home-made wine. The well- 
known medicinal quality of rhubarb resides in the root, 
but the English cannot compare with Turkey rhubarb as 
a medicine. It is carefully cultivated, and a number of 
choice varieties have been produced. Those grown in 
the market- gardens near to London produce an early 
crop, and have a fine flavour. 



C. — Mushrooms and Lichens, 
Mushrooms. 

Much difference of opinion exists as to the varieties 
of mushroom [Fungi) which may be eaten with safety, 
since some allow but few, whilst others believe that 
nearly all may be eaten with impunity. In the first 
view they may be regarded as luxuries or as condi- 
ments and agreeable adjuncts to food, whilst the sup- 
porters of the latter look forward to the time when 
they will become important and generally used foods. 
With every desire to see substances used as food, which 
may be so rapidly and cheaply grown, it is impossible 
to ignore the cases of poisoning from mushrooms, which 
have been recorded. The discussion would occupy too 
much of our space, and we shall therefore leave it to be 
dealt with by an able writer in the present Series. 

Mushrooms generally consist of about 90 per cent, of 
water, and 10 per cent, of cellulose, with salts and 



SUCCULENT VEGETABLES. 



211 



acids. ScUossberger and Dopping give the following 
elements in 100 parts of dried mushrooms : — 



No 



82. 



Nitrogen 
3-22 


Ash 
11-2 


4-25 
4-61 


9-5 
4-8 


4-68 
6-34 


6-9 
9-0 


7-26 

4-7 

3-19 


19-82 
6-80 
3-1 


4-46 


3-0 


6-16 


5-2 



Agaricus cantberellus 

Russula 

glutinosus 

deliciosus 

muscarius 

arvensis 
Boletus aureus . 
Dsedalea quercina 
Polyporus fomentarius 
Lycoperdon echinatum 

If we estimate the comj)Osition on the dry matter, 
we must allow that these substances are highly nutri- 
tious, ranking indeed with the most nutritious of vege- 
table products ; but such would scarcely be a practical 
view, for the bulk of fresh mushrooms to obtain a given 
quantity of nourishment would be too great to allow 
them to be used as a necessary food. About seven 
pounds weight of mushrooms would suj)ply the minimum 
requirements of a day in nitrogen, assuming that all the 
material is digestible. 

It is said, that mushrooms of the edible kinds which 
grow under trees are not always harmless, and that they 
should be gathered in the open field and when of com- 
paratively small size; but they may be grown readily in 
dark cellars with plenty of manure, without poisonous 
qualities. Some persons eat them when raw, after peeling 
off the outer skin ; but it is more common to roast or fry 
them with a little butter, pepper and salt, or to add them 
to sauces when served with meat. Perhaps they are at 
present the most useful in the preparation of ketchup, 
which is one of our most agreeable and harmless con- 
diments. 

Truffles are now a favourite food and belonsf to this 



212 NITROGENOUS VEGETABLE E00D8. 

class of vegetables. The common variety {Tuber ciha- 
rium), called also black truffles, grows in many parts of 
England, as the downs of Hampshire, Wiltshire, and 
Kent, bnt more abundantly in the southern parts of 
Europe, and varies in size from a nut to a potato. It 
grows about a foot under the ground, whence it is dug 
up, and it is said to be found by dogs which have been 
trained to the search. A white variety (Rhizophagon 
album) also grows in this country and in Germany, and 
appears partly above ground. 

They are very costly in relation to the nutriment 
supplied; but are aromatic, agreeable, and fashionable 
foods. 

Seaweeds and Lichens. 

There is very little doubt that there are valuable foods 
in this class of vegetables, but they have not yet been 
generally eaten. The inhabitants of the sea-coast, and 
particularly in the Orkneys and other isolated localities, 
where the people are frequently on the brink of starva- 
tion, have long had recourse to them, and in inland 
districts the inhabitants are aware of the existence of 
Iceland and Carrigeen moss, and of laver as an agreeable 
adjunct to roasted m.utton. 

In chemical composition they appear to rank high, 
since they are said to contain 10 to 1 5 per cent, of nitro- 
genous and 60 to 70 per cent, of carbonaceous matter ; 
but the flavour-is not such as to lead to their general 
use. When steeped in water with a little soda, they 
lose the adherent salt and much of their bitterness, and 
may then be prepared as a mucilaginous food by long 
stewing in water, milk or soup. When eaten with 
meat, it is usual to allow the bitter flavour to remain. 

Professor Stenberg found in the lichens of the 
North ern regions 29 to 33 per cent, of starch in Evernia 



SUCCULENT VEGETABLES. 213 

juhata, and 27 to 31 per cent, in Cetraria Islanclic%, or 
Iceland moss, quantities considerably exceeding those 
in tlie potato, and there is reason to believe that the 
bitter flavour of the Evernia may be extracted. It may 
be interesting to add, that the reindeer moss [Gladonici 
rangiferina) contains but 1 per cent, of starch. 

Laver is the name given to several seaweeds {For- 
phyra and TJlva), and is in somewhat frequent use in 
London as an accompaniment to roasted mutton, and 
has an agreeably acid flavour. It may be eaten on 
bread, after thoroughly warming it with a few table- 
spoonsful of hock in a saucepan, and flavouring it 
with a little lemon-juice. It should be immediately 
removed, and whilst hot eaten on buttered toast. 



CHAPTEE XXYIII. 

FBUITS. 
A. — Succulent. 



This very large class of vegetable products comprehends 
representatives from ever}^ hot and temperate climate, 
and offers the greatest variety of flavours, and those of 
the most agreeable character, of all vegetable and ani- 
mal foods. Many of them are too well known to render 
it needful to mention them, and the whole number is so 
large that it would be impossible to cite them ; but the 
English speaking race, with their Asiatic and African 
experience, are probably better acquainted with them 
than all other races of the civilised world. 

The true position of these foods is less that of 
nutrients than of agreeable luxuries, for nowhere are 
they a food on which the life of man depends, whilst 
all races, howeyer diverse in habits, eagerly seek after 



214 NITKOGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

tliem as additions to their dietary. It is true that in 
liot climates they occupy a higher position as foods 
than in temperate regions, not, however, by reason of 
any superiority in their chemical composition, but from 
the necessity of obtaining food which does not greatly 
produce heat, and juices of an agreeable flavour to 
moisten the mouth, and to stimulate the sense of taste. 
In these respects they are but imperfectly appreciated 
in temperate and cold climates ; and, it may be added, 
that the flavours of such tropical products as reach us 
are not by any means equal to those of the fruits im- 
mediately they are gathered. 

It must not, however, be inferred that we suffer 
from lack of fruits in this country which may not 
favourably compare with those of any clime, for our 
strawberry is probably unsurpassed in delicacy and 
lusciousness of flavour ; and the pine-apples, melons, 
grapes, peaches, apricots, nectarines, and pears of our 
hot-houses excel those of any country. This is owing, 
however, not to our temperate climate, but to care and 
skill of cultivation and to the artificial climate which we 
provide for them. 

But with all this, the Englishman who has returned 
from India, Ceylon, or the West Indies longs for a fresh 
orange or cocoa-nut instead of the old and stale samples, 
which alone are within his reach, just as when in India 
he would have been delighted with an English pear, 
apple, or bunch of currants, could he have gathered 
them from the trees. There is probably nothing in 
which IN^ature has been so bountiful to man, in whatever 
temperate or hot climate he may be found. 

It is a characteristic of all fruits that when ripe they 
may be eaten in their raw state, and of many, that they 
may be eaten cooked or raw. They consist essentially 
of two parts, viz., the juices, and the cellular structures 
in which the juices are contained ; and it is necessary to 



SUCCULENT FRUITS. 



215 



add that, wliilst the juices may be readily transformed, 
the cells are not easily digested, and when possible are 
thrown away. This is readily seen in such a food as 
the orange and apple when not of good quality or not 
quite ripe. In such fruits as the strawberry, the pine- 
apple, the grape, and even the banana the cell-wall is 
very thin, and is easily broken uj), so that its presence 
is not perceptible, and the digestion of it cannot be 
difficult. 

As a general expression, it may be stated of any fruit 
that the variety which yields the richest juices in the 
greatest quantity, whilst the cellular frame-work is the 
least perceptible on mastication, is the most preferred, 
and the most digestible. 

It is not necessary in a work of this class to enter at 
great length into the chemical composition of different: 
fruits ; but it is of interest to remark that chemical 
science has become so practical that the delicate flavour 
of the pine-apple, pear, strawberry, and other fruits are 
produced by the chemist in his laboratory, and that 
under the term ' essences ' we may enjoy the agreeable 
delusion of believing that we eat the juices of choice 
fruits when the fruits themselves cannot be obtained. 

All fruits agree, however, in containing much fluid 
in relation to the solid matter, and in supplying sugar, 
acids, salts, and the various volatile essences on which 
their flavour depends. As an illustration, we may cite 
the following as the composition per cent, of the ripe 
grape : — 

No. 83. 



Soluble 
Grape sugar 
Tartaric acid 


. 13-8 
. 1-12 


Insoluble 
Skin, stones, &c. . 
Pectose 


. 2-6 
. -9 


3S[itrogenoixs matter . 
Gum, fat, &c. 


•8 
■6 


Mineral matter 


. -12 


Salts 


•36 






Water 


. 798 







216 NITEOGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

The quantity of sugar varies with the different vine • 
yards, and as examples the following Rhine grapes may 
be cited : — 





No. 


84. 






Per cent. 




Per cent. 


Kleinberger, quite ripe 


. 10-59 


Oppenheim, ripe 


. 13-52 


AVhite Austrian . 


, 13-78 


„ over ripe 


. 15-14 


Red Asmannsliauser, ripe 


. 17-28 


Johannisberg 


. 19-24 



The dried grape or raisin and dried figs have been 
long in repute, and enter largely into the recipes of 
the fourteenth century. There are many kinds in use 
at the present day. Thus the muscatels, which are so 
much prized for dessert, are dried whilst hanging on 
the tree, and are thence called raisins of the sun. All 
the vine leaves around them are first cut away, and the 
foot-stalk is half cut off, after which the bunches are 
left undisturbed and the fruit unbroken until they are 
carefully removed and packed in boxes. These are the 
largest and sweetest raisins in the market, and sell at 
a very high price. The sultanas are the smallest which 
are sold under the name of raisins, and their flavour is 
very delicious. The former grow in Southern Europe, 
and the latter in Turkey. The ordinary raisins are 
produced from the ripe fruit, and are imported from 
France and Southern Europe, as well as from Asia 
Minor. They have greatly improved in quality and 
appearance within the last twenty years, and probably 
from the use of lye in which they are dipped before being 
dried. 

Currants from the Ionian Islands, which have been 
recently restored to Greece, are small seedless grapes, 
having less juice, and containing a less proportion 
of saccharine matter than the muscatels. 

Raisins and currants are used chiefly in the prepara- 
tion of puddings, but may produce srood wine. 



SUCCULENT FRUITS. 217 

The date is the fruit of a palm {Phoenix dactylifera), 
which grows extensively in the Sahara, Persia, and 
generally throughout Asia and Africa, and bears bunches 
:>f fruit weighing 25 lbs., with perhaps 200 dates. It 
contains a very large quantity of saccharine matter, 
and is eaten when either fresh or dried ; and so valuable 
is the tree that it is the chief source of wealth of the 
inhabitants. The fruit is largely imported into this 
country, and is highly esteemed, whilst where it grows 
it is nearly a necessary food. It contains, according to 
Reinsch, 58 per cent, of sugar, and 9 per cent, of pectin, 
besides other soluble substances, and water. 

The fig {Ficus Carica and 100 other species) attains 
perfection in Southern Trance, Turkey, and the Mediter- 
ranean coasts, but it grows and is appreciated through- 
out Central Europe, Asia and Africa, and ripens on the 
chalk soils of our own country. It has a more delicate 
and less satisfying flavour than the date whether fresh 
or dried. 

The mulberry (3Iorus), both white and black, is an 
agreeable sub- acid fruit, well known in this climate even in 
Saxon times, and ripening in the southern parts of the 
island. It contains more sugar than blackberries or 
bilberries, as shown by the following analysis of 
Fresenius (per cent.) : — 





No. 85. 








Mulberries 


Bilberries 


Blackberries 


Water . 


. 84-707 


77-552 


86-406 


Sugar . 


. 9-192 


5-780 


4-444 


Free acid 


1-860 


1-341 


1-188 


Nitrogenous . 


. 0-394 


0-794 


0-510 


Salts . 


. 0-566 


0-858 


0-414 



Cherries were grown in England in Saxon times, and 
used in the 14th century in the preparation of broth. 
They were called chyryse, and there is a Saxon word 
nearly resembling it. 





"Water 


Sugar 


Free acid 


Sour 


. 80-494 


8-772 


1-277 


Eather sour 


. 81-998 


8-568 


0-961 


Sweet black 


. 79-700 


10-700 


0-560 


Sweet light red. 


. 75-370 


13-110 


0-351 



218 NITROGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

The composition of cherries, accordiug to Fresenius, 
is as follows, per cent. : — 

No. 86. 

Nitrogenous and o„ii._ 

Pectinous '^'^^'^^ 

2-656 0-565 

3-529 0-835 

1-680 0-600 

3-189 0-600 

The apple and pear were known in this country be- 
fore the Conquest, probably even before the Saxon inva- 
sion. Apple fritters, milk flitters and herb fritters were 
eaten in the middle ages, and in the 14th century were 
usually fried in oil or lard. They were eaten with 
honey or sugar, and much resembled the pancakes of our 
day. 

An apple tart was made as follows : — ' Tak gode 
applys and gode spycis and figys and reysons and 
perys (pears), and wan they are well ybrayed colourd 
wyth safron-wel, and do yt in a cofyn, and do yt forth 
to bake wel.' 

Fresenius's analysis of certain kinds of apples and 
pears is as follows, per cent. : — 

No. 87. 

Apples Water Sugar Free acid N%^«f,^^°J^ ^^^^ Salts 

English rennets . . 82-04 6-83 0*85 7-92 0-36 

White dessert . . 85-04 7-58 1-04 2-94 0-44 

English golden pippin 8x-87 1036 0-48 5-11 

Sweefr^d . . . 85007 7940 trace 4-646 0-284 

The custard apple obtained from various species of 
Anona, growing in South America, Africa, the East 
Indies, the Caribbean Islands, &c., is a fruit with a juicy 
pulp, which, when ripe, has the flavour of clotted cream 
and suga-r, and is highly prized by rich and poor. The 
fruit varies in different species, from the size of an arti- 



SUCCULENT FKUITS. 219 

clioke to that of a melon, and in the latter case it has a 
reticulated appearance somewhat like a pine-apple. 

The alligator apple is also derived from an Anona, 
but is not so good a fruit. 

The guava {Psicliuni) is both pear shaped and apple, 
shaped, and grows generally throughout the East. It is 
aromatic, but not so agreeable as some other Eastern 
fruits, yet it is highly prized for the strong jelly which 
is obtained from it. 

The mangosteen, anchovy pear and Avocado pear, as 
well as the mammec apple, are favourite tropical fruits, 
whilst the prickly pear, which grows in Majorca and 
over extensive tracts of country of the old and New 
World, has long been known, but is not a fruit much 
sought after by the English people. 

The pomegranate {Punica Granatum) grows exten- 
sively in the East and in Spain and Portugal. Its 
rind is a mild astringent, and its juice sub-acid. 

The banana is the delicious fruit of the palm tree 
(Musa jparadisaica) , growing in Ceylon, India, Africa, 
and very generally throughout the East. It is of 
the form and size of a large finger, and grows in 
clusters, two or three feet long, containing 100 to 
200 specimens. Its flavour is luscious and delicious, 
but a little cloying to the appetite, so that a 
great number could not be eaten at one time. It 
consists of a thick skin and an enclosed pulp, and 
the latter alone is eaten. The analysis by Coren winder 
is as follows, in 100 parts : water 73*9, cane sugar and 
grape sugar, &c. 19*66, nitrogenous 4*82, cellulose 0*2, 
fat 0'63, with phosphoric anhydrid, lime, alkalis, and 
iron. 

There are two kinds of melon {Cucumis Melo and 
Citrullus) sold in our markets, both of which are deli- 
cious — viz. the water melon of Spain and France, and 



220 MTEOGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

the melon of our English glass-houses, but the latter 
is the more agreeable. 

Karatas is a variety of Bromelia, which grows in the 
West Indies and tropical countries, and bears clusters 
of whitish fruit, about two inches long, of an agreeable 
sub-acid flavour. 

Pigeon pears (Cajanus indicus) is another very good 
fruit in the same climate. 

The cannon-ball tree (Couroupita Guianensis) has a 
fruit as large as an infant's head, with a j)ulp of a 
viscous pleasant flavour. 

The peach palm {Guilielma speciosa) grows in South 
America and the West Indies, and bears a fruit with 
a flavour like chestnuts and cheese, and Mr. Bates 
reports a belief that it is more nutritious than fish. 

A large number of delicious fruits have been intro- 
duced into our South African possessions, amongst 
which may be mentioned the granadilla, yellow peach, 
white mulberry. Cape gooseberry, and the loquat. The 
latter is a delicious small apple, obtained from the 
Eastern Archipelago, with a juicy pulp and flavour 
between that of a gooseberry and peach, far excelling 
the English apple. It is the fruit of the Eriohotrya 
Japonica, 

Butter nuts are the fruit of the Caryocar hutyrosum, 
a very large tree growing in Guiana and other tropical 
countries. They are full of a delicious almond-like 
jelly, and are imbedded in a mealy pulp. 

Before quitting this part of the subject, it may be 
interesting to add, that when oranges are freshly 
gathered from the trees in the West Indies, the aro- 
matic essential oil in the skin is so pungent, as to 
blister the lips and disorder the stomach. 

Strawberries which grow on low bushes in this 
country, abound in hotter countries^ and in the Southern 



SUCCULENT FRUITS. 221 

parts of North America are so abundant in tlie woods 
as to feed a large detachment of soldiers. They are 
of delicious flavour, and grow on bushes three or four 
feet high. 

Fresenius's analysis of strawberries and raspberries is 
as follows, per cent. : — 

No. 88. 
Strawberries Raspberries 





Wild 


Water . 


. 87-019 


Sugar . 


. 4-550 


Free acid 


. 1-332 


Nitrogenous . 


. 0-567 


Pectous 


. 0-049 


Salts . 


. 0-603 



Cultivated, 
quite ripe 
87-474 


Wild 

red 

83-860 


Cultivated 

red 

86-057 


7-575 


3-597 


4-708 


1-133 


1-980 


1-356 


0-359 


0-546 


0-544 


0-119 


1-107 . 


1-746 


0-603 


0-270 


0-481 



The pine -apple tree {Ananassa sativa) grows in every 
hedge row in Zanzibar, the East and West Indies, and 
very widely within the tropics, and has a flavour far more 
delicious than the same fruit when imported into this 
country. The flavour is well imitated by a solution of 
pure butyrcite of ethjd in eight or ten times its weight 
of alcohol, and is sold as pine-apple essence. 

A large portion of this class of fruits may be pre- 
served in an edible state for a lengthened period, after 
they have been detached from the tree, either bj^ 
allowing them to diy, as in the case of raisins, I^or- 
mandy pippins, figs, dates, apricots, and tamarinds, or 
by simply keeping them in a suitable manner, as apples 
are kept, so that they may be used at nearly all sea- 
sons of the year, or transported to other climates and 
distant countries. 

The preservation of fruit, whether produced in this 
country or prepared in other countries for exj^ortation, 
is an art of great interest and importance, and has led 
to a very large commerce between nations. When not 



222 NITEOGENOUS VEGETAELE FOODS. 

effected by drying, as already mentioned, it is chiefly 
by being immersed in a preserving liquid, after being 
cooked. In reference to all saccharine fruits, the pre- 
servinsr material is suo^ar dissolved and boiled in the 
juices of the fruit, as in the preservation of goose- 
berries, currants, apricots, and strawberries; whilst 
oleaginous fruits, as olives, are preserved, in salt and 
water. Much care is required. 

Plams, apricots, and peaches, were eaten by the 
Saxons in England, but probably not of the fine quality 
of our own day. They are too well known to require 
a description even in preserves, and we shall simply 
indicate their composition, per cent., according to 
Fresenius : — 

No. 89. 

Plums Water Sugar Free Acid Nitrogenous Salts 

Greengages, yellow . . 80-84 2-96 0-96 0-47 0-318 

large and sweet . 79-72 3-40 0-87 0-40 0-398 

Mirabelle, common yellow . 82-25 3-o8 0-58 0-19 0-570 

Apricots 
Large fine-flavoured . . 82-115 1*53 0-76 0-38 0-75 
Small 83-55 2-73 1-60 0-41 0-72 

Peaclies 
Large Dutch .... 84-99 1-58 0-612 0-46 0-42 

Currants and gooseberries are amongst our most 
useful fruits and preserves, and grow as well in our 
Australian colonies and in America as in England, but 
are not suited to very hot climates. 

The following is the analysis of Fresenius, per cent. — 

No. 90. 



Gooseberries 
Small red 


Water 
. 84-831 


Sugar 
8-23 


Free Acid 
1-58 


Nitrogenous 
0-35 


Salts 
0-50 


Yellow . 


. 85-364 


7-50 


1-33 


0-36 


0-27 


Large red 


. 85-565 


8-06 


1-35 


0-441 


0-31 


Currants 
White . 


. 83-42 


7-12 


2-53 


0-68 


0-70 


Red . 


. 85-27 


6-44 


1-84 


0-49 


0-57 


Very large red . 


. 85-355 


5-647 


1-69 


0-35 


0-62 



SUCCULENT FEUITS. 223 

But however valuable cliemical analyses may be, they 
afford but a very imperfect idea of the differences which 
exist in the flavours and other qualities of these 
delicious foods; and although such investigations are 
carried farther than is here indicated, it would almost 
have sufficed for all questions of food, to cite one 
example for all of them. 

The elephant or wood apple {Feronia elephantum) of 
Bengal makes a preserve of an unusually soft and 
creamy flavour. The fruit is about the size of our apple, 
and the fleshy part which is adapted to this purpose is 
found underneath a very hard woody rind. 

The mango, which grows generally in the tropics, is 
not only a luscious fruit, but makes a delicious preserve. 
It grows to the size of a large Jersey pear, and encloses 
a very large stony seed. 

The fruit, known as Amatungula or Natal plum, and 
the Kei apple or Dingaan's apricot, are African fruits, 
which make excellent preserves. The former varies in 
size from an olive to a plum, and possesses a milky 
juice due to Caoutchouc, and of an agreeable sub- 
acid flavour. The latter is a berry which in its fresh 
state is so acid as to be used alone as a pickle, but 
when preserved Avith abundance of sugar is most 
agreeable. 

The Carissa Carandas furnishes a good substitute for 
red currant jelly. 

The quince (Cydonia) makes better marmalade than 
the orange. 

Preserved nutmegs (Myristica) are perhaps the most 
aromatic and delicious of all conserves, but they must 
be used when quite young before the seed has 
begun to harden. The preserve is but little known in 
bhis country. 

• 
11 



224 NITKOGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

Preserved ginger [Zingiher officinale) when young and 
tender is prepared with sugar as a preserve in the West 
Indies, and large quantities are sent to England. It 
is a most agreeable addition to the dessert or to the 
tea-table. 

It is not necessary to refer to the fruits from which 
preserves and jelly are made in this country, and 
not excelled by the fruits of any climate ; but it may 
be added that for this purpose the fruit should be fresh 
and dry when gathered, and well boiled with an equal 
weight of fine loaf sugar. 

A review of the qualities of these productions enables 
us to place them in the first rank of subsidiary or 
luxurious foods, since they supply an agreeable and re- 
freshing material when taken alone or with other foods 
which in health is desirable, and in disease almost 
necessary to life. They may be taken by the sick when 
nothing else is desired, and by acting upon the sense of 
taste may ultimately induce the invalid to eat food 
of a more nutritive character. 

Moreover, certain of them approach nearer to foods 
than others, so that, for example, the olive as a fruit is 
less luscious than the more succulent fruits, but it has 
the two advantages of oifering a true food in the form 
of oil, and of stiaiulating the appetite when pickled : so 
that in the former it is the servant of the poor and ill fed, 
and in the latter of the rich and over fed, but in its 
fresh state it is eaten daily by poor and rich alike, both 
as an agreeable fruit and a true food. 

In their indirect action as the producers of wines and 
alcohols, they exert a totally different influence which, 
whether it be analogous to that of food or not, is of 
almost universal use, and exercises an influence for good 
or evil, second only to that of necessary foods in the 
maintenance of life. The readiness with which fruits 



FRUITS. 225 

assume the fermentation process, and the large quantity 
of sugar which they possess fit them for the production 
of alcoholic liquors, and give rise to that great trade of 
nations connected with the production and consumption 
of wines and spirits. This is particularly the case with 
the grape, since in addition to its special qualities it 
grows in temperate climates very abundantly, and 
offers a suflicient variety of flavour to repay the greatest 
devotion to its cultivati3n and the preparation of 
wine. But there is not a member of the class which may 
not be employed for the like purpose, and a thousand 
other liquors of the same nature are prepared in dif- 
ferent parts of the world. 

There is, however, a limit on the score of expense to 
the production of spirits from these substances in this 
country, for alcohol can be produced much more cheaply 
from grain, and it is only the finest qualities of spirits, 
as Cognac, which are usuallj^ produced from the grape. 
But in Eastern nations spirits are prepared readily and 
economically from sugar-bearing fruits as well as from 
the sugar-bearing juices of the locality. 

The cost of production has moreover been lessened by 
diminishing the duration of the process through the dis- 
ti-ibution of air in the mass of fluid, as has been recently 
etibcted in California, so that the fermentation may now 
be completed in a few days instead of several weeks. 

B. — Albuminous. 

The class of fruits now to be considered are really 
seeds, and might have been referred to under that head, 
but as they are eaten when uncooked, and have the 
character of luxuries rather than of necessaries, it 
seems more fitting that they should be considered with 
fruits than witl\ grain. Such are nuts, as the cocoa 



226 NITROGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

nut, hazel nut, or filbert ; the almond, wall-nuts, hickory 
nuts, and many similar products. 

The nut itself consists of the envelope or pericarp, 
which is almost always inedible, and the contained edible 
and nutritive substance. The latter consists of a solid 
material, which in composition resembles animal albumen 
or casein, and is therefore very much, more nutritious 
than succulent fruits. These substances may be re- 
garded as foods of high nutritive value if we consider 
their chemical value only, but they fail in that they could 
not be eaten in quantities sufficient to constitute a chief 
part of a dietary excej)t for a short period when proper 
food might be unattainable. This is a familiar fact, as 
it respects nuts in use in this country, but in countries 
where the cocoa palm abounds, and great poverty 
exists, the cocoa nut is perhaps a not unimportant part 
of their daily food. It is also a familiar fact that, 
owing to difficulty of mastication, this kind of food 
is not easily digested, for any one eating a piece of 
cocoa nut is aware of the great length of time and 
cai*eful attention necessary to reduce it to a pulp, but 
it is true of this class of food, as of cheese, that 
whilst difficult of digestion they promote the digestion 
of other foods. Hence, like cheese, they should be 
eaten with great moderation. 

Of the whole class the cocoa nut {Gocos nucifera) 
is by far the most important to mankind, whether, 
considered as a delicious and nutritious food, or as 
supplying valuable oil and many other articles, useful in 
social life. Eacli tree yields from 80 to 1 00 nuts yearly, 
and will continue to bear during two generations of 
men. The edible part when ripe is composed of fat or 
oil to the extent of about 70 per cent., so that a quart 
is obtained from six or eight nuts. The quality of the 
oil or butter is very good, and might readily be used 



FRUITS. 227 

as food, but as it quickly becomes rancid, it is more 
cotmnouly employed in the manufacture of fine soap 
and candles. It has also an albuminous or nitrogenous 
substance and various volatile oils and salts. 

When green and unripe the nuts are lined with a 
creamy substance which subsequently becomes the 
hard white solid albumen which we eat in this country, 
and filled with water so cold as to render it desirable 
to add a little brandy to it. They are readily obtained 
by cutting the end of the nut across with a cutlass, 
and holding it upright. The enjoyment of this fruit 
by one living in a hot climate cannot be appreciated 
by those in temperate regions. 

It is an Arab saying, that the cocoa nut and the 
date cannot exist together. 

The cocoa palm supplies the nut as meat, milk, 
wines, spirits, vinegar, sugar and syrups ; besides mats, 
cords, sails, strainers, tinder, firewood, houses, boats and 
fencing, and is undoubtedly the most useful tree in the 
world. 

Almonds (Aniygdalus communis and amaris) are both 
sweet and bitter, and are produced abundantly in 
Southern Europe and Africa. The sweet variety has 
been in use in this country since, if not before, the 
14th century, in the preparation of almond milk by 
trituration with water, but in our day it is eaten more 
as a nut, with or without raisins. The bitter almond 
contains a proportion of prussic acid, but the quantity 
is not sufficiently large to render it dangerous. 

Like other nuts, they contain fixed and volatile oils. 
The former which is obtained by compression, is bland 
and agreeable, and although not used as a food is 
esteemed for other purposes, and particularly by the hair- 
dresser. The volatile oil is separated by distillatior. 



228 NITROGENOUS VEGETABLE EOODS. 

and that from the bitter almond is highly poisonoas 
until after the prussic acid has been expelled by heat. 

Tlie hazel nut was used in England during the 
middle ages in the preparation of milk, after the 
manner of almond milk for the cook. It grows in most 
temperate climates, but attains its greatest perfection 
in Sixain and Southern Europe. The filbert, however, 
which is a congener, has by careful cultivation been 
produced in its greatest perfection in this country. 

The earth nut or ground nut (Aracliis hypogcea) is a 
vetch- like plant, which buries its pods in the earth, and 
yields oily seeds of excellent flavour when roasted. 

A coarse kind of nut called Jack is eaten by the 
poorer classes in India and Zanzibar. 

The Brazilian nut (Bertholletia excelsa), or Peru 
almonds as they were called three centuries ago, is as 
large as a 24 lb. shot and very hard, and full of closely 
2)acked nuts. When falling in the forests they are a 
source of great danger to travellers. 

The edible chestnut is doubtless an important article of 
food to the poor in Southern Europe, and possesses many 
excellent qualities. Its flavour is agreeable, it is very nu- 
tritious, it may be easily cooked, is much more digestible 
than other nuts, and may be eaten with bread alone. 
It is unlikely that this food will occupy the highest 
place among foods anywhere, and least of all in nor- 
thern climates w^here it cannot be produced; yet it must 
be admitted that its use has largely increased of late 
years, both among the rich and poor, and that it is 
only the expense which prevents its more general 
extension among the latter class. At present it is 
regarded as a luxury. 

The first step to a great extension of its use would 
be to make the ordinary horse chestnut a safe and 
agreeable food, since it grows in our climate, and could 



FRUITS. 229 

be obtained in large quantities. It has an acrid 
bitter principle, which does not exist in the Spanish 
chestnut, and makes it distasteful and injurious as a 
food. It is said that means might readily be adopted 
to remove this poison ; but they could not be applied by 
the eater, and would therefore imply some preparation 
which would destroy the appearance of the nut and 
enhance its cost. 

There is a nut called Kola or Goorvo, growing in 
t^entral Africa, which resembles the chestnut, but is 
more bitter, and has the effect of causing water which 
is drunk to taste afterwards like white wine and sugar. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

CONDIMENTS. 



Although Condiments are rather adjuncts to food than 
foods, and rather medicines than foods, they are of ex- 
treme value in rendering food more palatable, stimu- 
lating a jaded appetite, supplying a necessary substance, 
and assisting in the preservation of food. 

They are of three classes, which may be represented 
by salt, vinegar, and pepper, since, all compounds of the 
class contain some or all of these elements. 

Salt, or chloride of sodium, has been in use from the 
earliest times, and is eagerly sought after as food b}^ both 
man and animals. So necessary is it for man, that when 
revenue was the most urgent a tax was placed upon 
salt, since, nearly everything would be sacrificed to 
obtain a portion of that material, and the saline 
earths called salt licks are the greatest attraction to 
the wild anirjials of the prairie or the desert. Both 



230 CONDIMENTS. 

the chlorine and the sodium, of which it is composed, 
are, moreover, part of the elements of the body, and 
are not yielded in sufficient quantity by the foods which 
we eat, and hence we crave for a further supply. 

The immediate use appears to be to stimulate the 
sens-e of taste and to increase the flow of saliva, but 
its preserving action is due to its power to attract mois- 
ture, by which it tends to harden whatever moist sub- 
stance is brought into contact with it, and when it has 
obtained moisture it becomes soft, and loses its fla- 
vour. There is no other compound of chlorine which 
eflPects both of these purposes or could supplant com- 
mon salt. It is met with in an unlimited quantity 
in sea water, and in certain salt springs, from which it 
is obtained by evaporation and crystallisation. Salt 
springs are preferred by salt manufacturers to sea 
water, since, they do not contain iodine or other ele- 
ments which would modify the flavour of the salt. 
Another source is the earth itself, as in the salt mines 
of Cheshire, Saltsburg, Cracow, and the Punjab, whence 
it is extracted by digging or washing. Such salt is 
generally mixed with colouring matter, and is pre- 
pared for the table at greater cost than from salt 
springs. 

Vinegar is an acid fluid which is j)repared from many 
sources. Thus all saccharine materials may put on the 
acetous fermentation and produce vinegar. The finest 
is that prepared from the grape, but malt is well 
known as the largest source of vinegar in this country. 
This kind of fermentation is produced by a tempera- 
ture of *7d° to 80°, maintained for some da3^s or weeks. 
At a lower temperature, vinegar is gradually produced 
from beers or wines which contain little spirit, and 
are exposed to the atmosphere. Such is more or less 
coloured, but a tolerably white vinegar may be produced 



CONDIMENTS. 231 

from white wine, and perfectly white vinegar is the 
product of distillation of wood or pyroligneous acid. 

The strength of the vinegar varies much, but may be 
increased by evaporation, and is not unfrequently for- 
tified by the addition of a strong mineral acid or sul- 
phuric acid. The proof strength is 5 per cent, of pure 
acid and has a sp. gr. of 1*019, but vinegars are usually 
lower than that standard. 

Vinegar of very excellent quality and at a moderate 
price may now be obtained in every part of the country, 
so that it is no longer necessary to make it at home, 
but the following recipe will produce it : viz., 1 gallon 
of water, 1^ lb. of raw sugar, and ^ pint of yeast. 
At a temperature of 80° it will be sufficiently acid in three 
or four days to be drawn off, when an ounce of cut rai- 
sins and the like weight of cream of tartar should be 
added, and after a few weeks the sweet taste will have 
entirely disappeared, so that the fluid may be bottled. A 
more simple method for the production of a small quan- 
tity is to procure the vinegar plant {Penicillium glaucum) 
and place it in a weak solution of sugar in a warm place 
for a few days. The same plant will continue to increase 
and may be used again and again for the same purpose. 
The production of vinegar from any saccharine material 
is accompanied by a fungoid plant, so that vinegar pro- 
duced in the purest manner from wine lees deposits a 
material called * mother of vinegar,' which is a my co- 
derm {Mycodermi Vini) and when added to weak alcohol 
produces vinegar, [t consists of cellulose and a nitro- 
genous principle. The process has, however, some 
connection with the extractive substance of plants for 
when that of wine is lost by age the acetous fermenta- 
tion is not easily produced. 

The addition of beech shavings is valuable for the 
purpose of clarifying the vinegar and the acetous fer- 



232 CONDIMENTS. 

mentation process is greatly expedited hj the free ad- 
mixture of air with tlie alcoholic liquor as it passes 
through the shavings. 

The flavour is due in some degree to the acid itself, 
but much more to the substances which accompany it, 
such as various acetic ethers ; and in proportion to its 
strength in acid, and fulness and delicacy of flavour is 
the vinegar esteemed. Distilled vinegar is weaker in 
acid if not in flavour than raw vinegar, and having less 
colour is generally preferred. As acetic acid is the true 
acid of vinegar, all others must be regarded as adul- 
terations. Such are hydrochloric and sulphuric acids, 
the former of which may be ascertained by the white 
deposit which follows the addition of nitrate of silver, 
and the latter of chloride of barium. 

Although acetic acid is transformed into carbonic 
acid, and so far is a food, it would be a refinement to 
saj that vinegar supplies nutritive materials, and its sole 
use, as a food seems to be, to flavour food and stimu- 
late the nerves of taste. It has also a powerful preser- 
ving action by which it hardens flesh and prevents the 
decomposition of both animal and vegetable substances. 

Peppers and spices constitute a very large and impor- 
tant class of condiments, and have been in use in all 
ages and in nearly all climates. It is true that peppers 
arc. the product of hot climates solely, and if used in 
temperate or cold climates, must be imported, but they 
are light and compendious, and particularly fitted for the 
mode of conveyance which was in use in distant ages. 
But many other substances growing in temperate cli- 
mates have similar properties, and are substituted as 
occasion may require. 

Spices were always highly esteemed, and not only 
were a principal article of merchandise, but acceptable 
presents even to a king. Thus the Queen of Sheba 



CONDIMENTS. 2o0 

presented spices in great abundance, and it is written, 
* Neither was there any sncli spice as the Queen of 
Sheba gave King Solomon.' 

So important were they even in our cold climate, that 
in our early history the spicery was a special depart- 
ment of the Court, and had its proper officers. SjDices 
were necessarily rare and costly in the 14th century, 
since they were imported from the Levant, and were 
not then in general use. Chaucer and Wiclif men- 
tion cinnamon or canella, mace (or as then called 
macys), cloves (or clowe), galyngal (whence probably 
the term galentine), pepper, ginger, cubebs, grains of 
paradise (or de Parys), nutmegs, caraway and spyke- 
nard de Spayn, are specially noted i-n the recipes. 
Certain compounds of spices, as our allspice, were then 
used, as powder douce and powder fort. Of all these, only 
the carraway seed is now produced in England, but 
at thai time it was an exotic, and imported from 
Caria. It was not unusual to flavour fluids with 
leaves as bay leaves, and with flowers, as the white and 
red rose and the hawthorn. The class is, how^ever, 
much too large to allow us to devote the requisite space 
for detailed description, and w^e shall content ourselves 
with indicating certain typical specimens. 

1. As to Fruit. The seeds or berries of plants are 
the chief source of this pungent material, including 
the peppers with which we are so well acquainted. 
The black and white pepper of commerce are i^roduced 
from the same plant, {Piper nigrum), a low shrub which 
grows in the East Indies and Ceylon, and indeed 
extensively throughout the East. The berry has a 
black or dark brown cuticle, and when the whole is 
ground, the product is black pepper, but when the 
skin is removed, white pepper is produced. 

Long pepper is the fruit of several species of the 



234 



CONDIMENTS. 



No. 91. 



Chavica, and particularly of the Chavica offcinarum, so 
called, because it has been used in medicine in almost 
all ages, and is more pungent than white pepper. 

Jamaica pepper is made from the unripe berry of the 
Eugenia pimenta, which grows in the West Indies to 
the height of 20 or 80 feet, and bears flowers of an 
aromatic odour. The berries are gathered when green, 
and most carefully dried, afier which they are of a 
brown colour. The flavour is much less pungent and 
more aromatic than, that of black pepper, and is so 
rich as to be called Allspice. 

Cubebs is the powdered berry of the Cuhehs officinalis, 
a climbing shrub, which grows abundantly in Java, 
Sumatra, China, the Moluccas, and other Eastern coun- 
tries, where it is in common use as a condiment ; but 
in this country it is now employed 
almst exclusively as a medicine. 

Coriander, cummin, and carraway 
seeds, are produced in temperate as 
well as in hot climates, and have an 
agreeable aromatic pungency. 

The nutmeg is the fruit of the 
Myristica mosckata, or fatua, and 
other tropical trees aud shrubs of the 
same genus, growing in Madagascar, 
the Banda Islands, and many parts 
of Asia. It is enveloped in a fleshy 
'''itf Jfnac^Si^ar^'lr sarcocarp, and when unripe, the 
™^^^' whole fruit makes an excellent pre- 

serve. The seed of the ripe fruit is dried and sent to 
Europe whilst whole, but it is easily torn into small 
portions by the grater, which is in common use. It 
is very delicate and aromatic in its flavour, but not 
by any means so pungent as ordinary pepper. Hence 




CONDIMENTS. 2Sl'> 

it is more fitted for use with farinaceous foods, having 
a delicate flavour, which would be destroyed by the use 
of a strong pepper. Mace is a thin foliaceous aril, 
which is attached to, and envelopes the nutmeg. It 
has the character of the nutmeg, with perhaps greater 
delicacy of flavour, and it is used whole (No. 91). 

Cardamom seeds are the fruit of the Amomum or 
Elettaria, growing in Malabar, the Canary Islands, and 
the East Indies, as well 'as in many other parts of 
Asia. They are said to be divided commercially into 
three classes, viz. : shorts, short-longs, and long-longs, 
according to the length of the fruit. They are veiy 
aromatic. 

Grains of paradise are also the product of the same 
genus, the Amomum gramim Faradisi, growing in the 
same localities, and are used in this country chiefly 
to give increased pungency, or false strength, to beer. 
They are not employed in cookery. 

Mustard seed {Sinapis nigra and other species) was 
used by our Saxon forefathers, and in the 14th century 
was mixed with honey, vinegar, and wine, as a condi- 
ment. It is produced largely in this country and 
Europe generally, and is perhaps the chief condiment 
of this class. It is never used whole, but is ground 
into an impalpable powder, and is commonly mixed 
with a proportion of flour to mitigate its natural pun- 
gency. Hence the mustard makers are also manufac- 
turers of starch, and there is a tendency to use an undue 
proportion of flour by which the pungency of the 
powder is so much enfeebled, that capsicum is added to 
restore it. 

The seed-pods of numerous plants are used as condi- 
ments. Thus the cayenne pepper is the roughly ground 
pod of the Cajpsicumfrutescens, and other varieties, which 



•236 CONDIMi:NTS. 

grov/s in both temperate and hot climates. The same 
product is called chillies in Mexico and other parts of 
America^ and is used largely when cooking beans. 

The flower bud of the Garyophyllus aromaticus is the 
clove of commerce, and is so called from its resemblance 
to a nail {Clou). The tree grows in the Moluccas, 
Mauritius, Sumatra, the West Indies, and many other 
tropical countries. The flower is dried in the sun, or by 
artificial heat, and in the process becomes much duller 
in colour. It has a somewhat pungent aromatic 
flavour. 

2. The Baric of Plants. This division is well represented 
by the cassia and cinnamon which grow in Java, Ceylon, 
China, Japan, and many other eastern countries. They 
are the product of the Cassia fistula and other varieties 
of Cassia, and of the Cinnamomum zeylaniciim and other 
varieties, but of the two the cinnamon is much more 
aromatic and useful as a condiment. So highly was 
cinnamon esteemed, and so close the monopoly which 
the Dutch had in Ceylon until 1833, that the punish- 
ment of deij,th was inflicted on those who injured the 
plant or illegally exported the bark or oil. It is used 
in pieces or it may be ground into a fine powder. The 
finest quality is obtained from the young shoots or 
suckers, since it has a less proportion of woody fibre 
and a more delicate aroma. 

3. Leaves. It is necessary to premise that whilst 
there are leaves which are used as condiments, the same 
property is generally extended to the fruit, and very 
frequently to the flower and bark, if not to the wood, 
of the shrub or tree. 

Bay leaves of various species of Laurus, spear mint, 
peppermint, penny royal, and all our well known 
garden herbs, belong to this division. The young leaves 
of the Baobab are eaten as a condiment in Central Africa, 



CONDIMENTS. 



237 



and the leaves of the betel -pepper Chavica are chewed 
by the Malays. It may also be added, that the leaves 
of the tobacco plant [Nicotiana Tabacum) are chewed 
rather as a condiment than as a narcotic. 

4. The Root, Rhizome, or Bulb. This division is well 
represented by the ginger {Zingiber officinale and other 
species), growing in the East and West Indies. When 
fresh, it makes a gently stimulating preserve, and when 
dried may be used either whole or ground into powder. 
It enters into almost every compound of this class, and 
is one of the most useful and least injurious members. 

The following drawing represents the Zingiber 
officinale, with the rhizome, which is preserved. 

No. 92. 




The Ginger Plant, 



238 CONDIMENTS. 

Turmeric is the root of tlie Curcuma longa, and grows 
abundantly in the East Indies, where it is one of the 
chief condiments used in the preparation of food, and 
particularly of the various seeds which are called dahl. 
It is ground into a fine powder before use ; but in this 
country it is not used separately as a condiment, but as 
a yellow dye, and is so delicate that it is used as a test- 
paper for determining the presence of alkalies. It is 
probably the Cyperus indicus of Pliny and Dioscorides, 
and was well known in ancient times. 

Garlic [Allium sativum) is eaten both in hot and 
temperate climates. The clove is the young bulb. The 
onion is an allied genus, and although it is eaten as a 
food, the small onions are used as a condiment in pickles. 

In reference to nearly all the substances couiprised in 
this division of Condiments, it may be remarked that 
their property is due to special volatile oils, and that 
such oils are obtained in the largest proportion from the 
fruit and leaves and sold separately. 

From these various sources which may be termed 
elements, are obtained the materials from which the 
infinite varieties of sauces, pickles, and similar ap- 
petising compounds are made, and to which we may 
onl}^ slightly refer. 

Curry powder is a mixture of various peppers and 
other condiments coloured with turmeric, which is in 
universal use in India and the East, but which varies 
in flavour with each manufacturer. Its use is less 
necessary and defensible in a temperate than in a 
hot climate, and it is rare for one in England to 
tolerate the quantity of capsicum which is relished in 
India. It is said that a curry mixture should contain 
all the following ingredients, viz. : greenginger, garlic, 
coriander and cinnamon seeds, onions. Chili pepper, 
turmeric, butter, cocoa nut and lime or lemon. 



CONDU^rENTS. 239 

A composition very similar to this was in use in the 
spicery of the middle ages. 

Cassareep is produced in the West Indies and Guiana 
from the root of the tapioca plant [Manihot), and is ex- 
tensively used both to flavour sauces and to preserve 
meat. As a condiment it is very valuable and is pre- 
pared by boiling the expressed juice of the roots until it 
is reduced to the consistence of syrup, when it is highly 
seasoned with pepper, cinnamon and mace. The scum 
is carefully removed during the process. It is so strong 
in flavour that a tablespoonful is sufficient for a tureen 
of soup, and is useful for every purpose of a condiment 
and as a menstruum in which to impregnate and con- 
serve animal food. 

Tlie palava sauce is prepared from the leaves of the 
Baobab, and flavoured with pungent spices in Central 
Africa. 

Ketchup or katsup is obtained from mushrooms and 
spices. 



/3 Non-Nitrogenous. 
CHAPTER XXX. 

STARCH, SAGO, AREOWEOOT, TAPIOCA. 

The non-nitrogenous vegetable products are of two 
classes, viz., starch and fat, which have the same elenients 
of composition, but differ in their proportions. They 
are very interesting and important foods, and although 
not constituting an essential part of any dietary, are 
amongst the more agreeable of ordinary foods, and their 
use could not be dispensed with without great regret. 
' The starchy foods to which we shall now refer are 
used as puddings, and are never made into loaves of bread. 



240 NON-NITROGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

Such are sago, arrowroot, tapioca, cassava meal, manioc, 
semolina, and many other similar productions. They 
are rarely absolutely free from a trace of nitrogen, but 
the quantity is inappreciable when considered as a food. 
It may also be added, that nearly all the members of 
this class are particularly useful as food for children and 
the sick. 

Sago and Aeeowroot. 

Sago is the product of various palms, and principally of 
the Cycas revoliita and other trees in India, Ceylon, and 
many other Eastern countries (No. 94). It is obtained b}- 
washing the pith with water and drying the sediment, 
after which the sago api^ears in round grains, some- 
what varying in size, or in small granulated masses. 
The grains, although so hard when dry as not to be easily 
broken by the teeth, absorb water somewhat readily, and 
make a mucilaginous food when prepared as pudding or 
gruel. It possesses but little flavour, but is not in any 
degree disagreeable, so that with suitable adjuncts it 
becomes an agreeable food. 

Its nutritive value is not very high, since it consists 
almost exclusively of starch, and is therefore inferior to 
rice, and much inferior to the farinaceous foods grown 
in our own climate. The ultimate elements present in 
sago must be considered as if it were so much st"-arch, 
on the following formula : — 

No. 93. 
C. 6 H. 10 0. 5 

There are 2,555 grains of carbon and If grain of 
nitrogen in lib. 

When cooked it is digested in about one hour and 
three-quarters. 

Arrowroot is a well-known food, derived from various 



SAGO. 



241 




242 NON-NITEOGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

sources, but chiefly from the palm tree [Maranta arun- 
dinacea), which grows in the Bermudas, the "West 
India Islands, the East Indies, and various other parts 
of Asia as Avell as in Africa. It is prepared from the 
rhizomes or roots by washing and drying. The rhizomes 
are first very carefully peeled, so as to exclude a 
resinous substance, which would give an unpleasant 
flavour to the arrowroot, and the inner portion is rasped 
or beaten and broken to pieces by mills or deep wooden 
mortars. The arrowroot being insoluble subsides to the 
bottom of the vessel in which it is washed, and may 
then be collected on hair sieves, and separated from 
fibres and other foreign substances. 

English arrowroot is obtained chiefly from potatoes, 
but may be profitably prepared from rice or maize. It 
resembles sago in being almost a pure starch, as well as 
in its nutritive and culinary properties ; and those sub- 
stances are preferred from which to prepare it that 
contain very little nitrogen, and whose cost is less than 
that of wheat en flour. 

Bermuda arrowroot is the most esteemed, and is not 
unfrequently adulterated with less costly preparations 
of starch, as potato starch, , sago meal, and Brazilian 
arrowroot ; but the chemical properties are not thereby 
changed. When the adulteration is made with wheat 
flour, it may be detected by the foam which remains 
upon the surface of the liquid in which a portion of the 
arrowroot has been boiled and persistently stirred, 
for with pure starch, as arrowroot should be, there would 
be no froth. This test depends for its action upon the 
presence of gluten in wheat flour. 

The proximate elements in 100 parts when pure are 
water 18-0, and starch 82*0; so that it is or should be 
free from nitrogen. There are 2,555 grains of carbon 
in 1 lb. 



AEROWKOOT. 243 

The time required for digestion is tlie same as for 
sago and arrowrootp viz., from one hour and three- 
quarters to two hours. 

Ten grains of arrowroot when thoroughly consumed 
in the body produce heat sufficient to raise lO'OG lbs. 
of water 1° F., which is equal to lifting 7,766 lbs. one 
foot high. 

In my experiments on arrowroot when eaten alone and 
on an empty stomach it gave no sense of satisfaction, 
but, on the contrarv, there was a sense of sinkino- and 
malaise in the stomach and bowels in about an hour. 
The effect of arrowroot upon the respiratory and other 
vital functions was very small. After eating 500 grains 
well cooked in water, the average increase in the emis- 
sion, of carbonic acid was only 0*154 grain per minute, 
whilst there was a subsidence of the rate of pulsation 
and respiration. When the same quantity was taken 
after a perfect fast of twenty-four hours, the effect was 
still Yerj small, but it was greater than when eaten 
under ordinary circumstances. The maximum increase 
in the carbonic acid evolved was only 0*45 grain per 
minute (No. 95). 

The addition of one ounce of fresh butter scarcely 
increased the effect of arrowroot alone on the respiration, 
for the total average increase was only 0*17 grain, 
and the maximum increase 0*4 grain per minute. The 
rate of respiration was somewhat lessened, whilst 
that of pulsation was increased four beats per second 
(No. 95). 

When 250 grains of sugar were added to the arrow- 
root, as in the preparation of pudding, there was a 
further increase in the effect, for the maximum increase 
in the carbonic acid evolved was one grain per minute, 
and of the quantity of air inspired twenty cubic inches 
per minute- The rate of pulsation was somewhat 



211- NON-NITROGENOUS VEGETAELE FOODS. 

increased, whilst tliat of respiration was lessened 
(No. 95). 

The sense of satisfaction was greatly increased by 
the addition of sugar or butter to the arrowroot. 

When starch was obtained by washing wheat flour, 
or as commercial starch, the effect varied with its 
purity, that is to say, with the gluten which had not 
been removed by the washing, and with gluten there 
was a much greater increase in the carbonic acid 
evolved and in the rate of both respiration and pulsa- 
tion. Hence there can be no doubt that starch to be 
used as a nutrient should not be entirely free from 
gluten or other nitrogenous matters. 

Tapioca, Cassava, and Manioc. 

These foods are obtained from numerous plants which 
grow in tropical America, Asia, and Africa ; but parti- 
cularly from the Jatroijha, and other members of the 
Euphorbiaceous family, although they yield highly 
poisonous juices. 

It is found in the rhizomes or roots, which resemble 
large turnips, and grow in clusters, and is prepared in a 
manner very like that of arrowroot. The fecula, or 
starch, which has been washed out of the bruised roots, 
is carefully dried on heated plates, by which many of 
the starch-cells are broken, and dextrin is produced. 
The heat thus applied is apt to lessen the nutritive 
value of the product ; but is essential, in order to drive 
off the poisonous acid which is found in the juices. It 
is imported from Brazil, under the name of Brazilian 
arrowroot, and both are essentially the same in nature 
and nutritive value. 

It is very largely used in South America in the pre- 
paration of cassava cakeJ, by the farina, or meal, being 



SEMOLINA. 245 

heated, but in nutritive value they are far inferior to 
oat-cakes. Slices of the root are also dried and eaten 
as cassava bread. There is also a cassava which possesses 
the same substance without the poisonous juices, and 
known as sweet cassava, or sweet juca, the rhizome of 
which may be eaten raw, roasted, or boiled. 

The chemical properties are identical with those of 
arrowroot, and almost identical with sago, and as 
foods they are all practically equal, the one to the 
other. 

The root of the cassava {Manihot utilissima) is also 
used for the preparation of a condiment called cas- 
sareep, which is made at the same time as the tapioca. 
Captain Burton says that this food is full of gluten 
(in which he is doubtless mistaken), but by no means 
nutritious, and after a short time it produces an inordi- 
nate craving for meat; yet it is a common article of 
food for the poorer classes on the western coast of 
Africa, where there are fifty ways of cooking it. It 
tastes like parsnips or watery potatoes. 

Semolina. 

This favourite food, from which puddings are made, 
is perhaps the most valuable of all the substances so 
employed, since it is derived from the finest and hardest 
wheat, and as it contains a larger proportion of 
nitrogen than tapioca or arrowroot might have been 
described elsewhere. 

It is that portion of the central part of the grain of 
wheat which is not reduced to powder in the process 
of grinding by stones, and is produced from the 
grains of very sunny climates, as Spain, Odessa, and 
some other parts of Russia and the south of Italy, 
where the grain becomes very dry and hard. Its pro- 



246 NON-NITROGENOUS VEGETABLE POODS. 

duction is, in a degree, a necessary result of the imper- 
fectioii of the grinding process, since it lies in the 
furrows of the millstones, but the quantity may be 
increased at the pleasure of the miller. 

It is used in Italy for the preparation of polenta, and 
in Trance is made into a favourite kind of bread, whilst 
in this country it is employed in the preparation of 
puddings alone. In Algeria it forms the national dish 
called Couscousou, with the addition of vegetables, butter 
and fowl, and is as good as its composition and cook- 
ing are complicated. A preparation very similar to 
it is made from millet and maize, but the flavour is 
inferior. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

VEGETABLE FATS AND OILS. 



We have now to consider a class of substances which 
are used by man everywhere in temperate and hot 
climates, and which offer very great variety in their 
source of production and flavour. 

Fat, whether in a solid or liquid state, is found in 
nearly all vegetable productions, and adds to their 
nutritive value and flavour, but the quantity is some- 
times so small as to preclude the attempt to obtain it 
separately. It is more particularly stored up in the 
seeds, and can be obtained by expression, with or 
without the aid of heat. Thus, the cocoa-nut is now 
extensively employed in the West Indies and other coun- 
tries for the production of oil only, and yields a pure 
and clear oil, which is valuable as a food. 

Numerous other palm-trees of Eastern countries 
supply fats, which are called butter, and which, when 



VEGETABLE EATS AND OILS. 247 

properly treated, yield oils which are used as food. 
Hence, we have the butter-nut and the Shea butter, 
as well as palm-oil, which are bringing the African 
people into communion with civilised nations, and upon 
which our greatest hope of the abolition of slavery and 
the cultivation of legitimate commerce chiefly depends. 

The Brazilian nut, ground-nut, the hazel-nut and 
the walnut are amongst many which are known in 
this country as possessing oils, and from the two former 
the oil is expressed, and sold as articles of com- 
merce. 

Fruits, which are less albuminous in their nature 
than nuts, also yield oil largely, so that edible vegetable 
oils are best known in this country, and in Europe 
generally, by the olive-oil, which was also used in- 
stead of butter in England in the fourteenth century ; 
but in hot climates, and particularly in India, a great 
variety of vegetable oils are obtained and used as 
food. 

The olive tree {Olea Europcea), which produces olive- 
oil, grows in Syria, and other parts of Asia, as well as 
in the southern countries of Europe, and is everywhere 
highly esteemed. Its fruit is a berry, varying in size, 
so that the Spanish is twice as large as the French 
olive, and has a fleshy coat or sarcocarp, which con- 
tains the oil. The olive-berry is used as food by the 
poorer classes in the country where it is produced, and 
when eaten with bread is agreeable and nutritious. 
The berry is, however, as commonly used for the prepa- 
ration of olive-oil; or, after pickling in salt-water 
or lime-water, it is exported to countries where it is 
eaten as a luxurj^, to stimulate the appetite or diges- 
tion. 

' The oil is obtained from the berry by pressure, and 
that which comes over first is the purest, and is called 
12 



248 NON-NITEOGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

virgin oil, whilst a further portion is expressed b}^ 
means of heat and water, and is mnch less valuable. 
The oil thus obtained is not so clear as it subsequently 
appears in the market, until subjected to a purifying 
process. This consists simply in saponifying it by 
agitation with a saturated solution of caustic soda, 
and when the deposit has subsided the oil is clear and 
pure, and ready for use. 

When it is fresh and pure it has only a very slight 
yellowish green colour, and but little smell or flavour, 
so that it may not only be drank by those who like 
oil, but is particularly £tted for cooking delicate 
foods. It cannot be doubted that it is one of the 
most easily digested fats in food, and its use might 
be properly extended in this country, notwithstanding 
our excellent animal fats. 

So valuable a substance excites the cupidity of those 
who deal in it, and becomes adulterated with cheaper 
oils, such, for example, as the oil of the ground-nut 
and the monkey-nut of the higher plateaus of Africa 
(Arachis liypogoia), the oil of other seeds, and even 
animal products, as lard oil. Such additions or sub- 
stitutions may not lessen the nutritive value of the oil, 
but they diminish its peculiar flavour and, being cheaper, 
are fraudulent. 

But the largest source of vegetable oils is the small 
seeds of plants, and some of them are used as food. 
The seed of the cotton-plant, mustard-seed, linseed, and 
rape-seed may be quoted as illustrations of these pro- 
ducts, and oils of a very fine quality are procurable 
from them. The seeds of the common cucumber may 
be especially cited as yielding an edible oil of delicious 
and delicate flavour ; and that of the large cucumber 
grown on the Slave Coast far exceeds in flavour the 
finest olive-oil. Seed-oil is much more commonly eaten 



SUGAK. 249 

in India, and otlier hot connti ies, than in England. The 
seeds of the sunflower, yielding 40 per cent, of oil, and 
sesamum oils may be added to the list, as repre- 
senting Indian oils, which are used in cooking gram 
and other vegetables ; whilst in the gloomy forests of 
Central Africa, where milk and butter are rarely attain- 
able, and in the Great Mangrove Swamps, where the 
cassava, plantain, and yam are the chief foods, palm-oil 
and vegetable fats are almost necessaries of life. 

There can be no doubt that we have in this product 
of seeds of plants, which seem otherwise to be useless, a 
great storehouse of most valuable nutritive material; 
and if we know but little of them in this climate, it is 
because we have the olive-oil at hand and are bounti- 
fully supplied with many kinds of animal fats. It is, 
however, probable that the cheapness of some of these 
vegetable oils, in addition to the delicacy of their 
flavour, will, ere long, force themselves into notice, and 
obtain a place among our foods. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

8UGAB, TEEACLE, HONEY, AND MANNA. 

The modem researches of chemists have so extended 
our knowledge of sugar and saccharine compounds, 
that, were we to enter into detailed chemical descrip- 
tions, we should have to describe a class of substances 
rather than the one food which is popularly known as 
sugar; and as that would be incompatible with the 
scope ot this work, we shall strictly limit our observa- 
tions to the popular conception of the subject. 

Sugar is not a product of Nature, which, like a fruit, 



250 NON-NITROGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

may be detached by meclianical means from the plant pro- 
ducingit, but a component pai-t of the juices of plants, and 
is obtained by expression, evaporation, crystallisation, 
and purification. It is met with in the juices of nearly 
all edible plants, but particularly in fruits and in the 
sugar-canes, which are cultivated solely with a view to 
its production. It is also found very largely in the 
subterranean stems and rhizomes of many plants, as 
beet-root, carrot, and parsnip, and in the juices of 
certain forest trees, as the sugar maple of the New 
World, and in all edible seeds. Moreover, it is found in 
the blood, flesh, and secretions of animals, and particu- 
larly in milk, and is a product both of health and disease. 

Hence, the sources whence it might be derived are 
exceedingly numerous and widely distributed, and there 
is probably no part of the globe where the inhabitants 
do not obtain it, so that it would scarcely be beyond the 
truth to say that it is the most generally distributed of 
all proximate chemical elements. 

Sugar was not introduced into England until the 
fourteenth century; and, as it was imported from 
countries so distant as the Indies, by Damascus and 
Aleppo to Venice and Pisa, or from Cyprus, it was an 
expensive luxury. It could not compete with honey, 
which was the native saccharine food, but was reserved 
for choice dishes and for the use of the wealthy classes. 
It was even refined at an early date, but the process was 
effected with wine, and probably did not proceed further 
than the removal of foreign matters. 

It was, however, known to, but rarely us?d by, the 
ancients as far back as the fourth century before 
Christ. It is not mentioned in the Old Testament 
Scriptures ; and in those records the quality of sweet- 
ness which we attach to sugar was connected with 
honey, so that the expression used was, not ' A.s sweet 



SUGAR. 251 

as sugar and the sugar-cane,' but, ' As sweet as honey 
and the honey- comb.' 

Amongst an ahnost infinite variety of so-called 
sugars, as understood by chemists, there are three 
kinds which demand notice, viz., milk-sugar, cane- 
sugar, and grape or fruit-sugar. They have the same 
chemical elements, but differ much in sweetening power. 
Milk-sugar is so called because it is chiefly derived from 
the milk of animals, and cane and fruit sugars from 
having their chief sources in the sugar-canes and fruits. 
The former is less soluble and has less sweetening pro- 
perty than the latter, and its use is infinitesimally 
small. 

The usual sources of ordinary or cane-sugar are 
three, viz., the sugar-cane, maple -tree, and beet-root, 
but of these the former fiar exceeds both the others. 

The sugar-cane grows, or may be grown freely and 
almost universally, in hot or tropical countries, as 
the lowlands of the Mississippi, the West Indian 
Islands, the Bermudas, the Mauritius, Java, the 
Brazils, parts of the East Indies, and also over ex- 
tensive tracts in Asia, at even considerable elevations. 
It is not grown in the temperate regions of Europe, 
or in districts where the elevation is so great as to 
reduce the temperature to that of temperate climates, 
and everywhere the product varies as the degree of 
heat, other conditions being equal. 

The cane grows to twelve or even twenty feet in 
height, and to one inch and upwards in width, so that 
^ field of canes fully grown and in flower presents a 
very handsome appearance (No. 97). 

The chemical composition of the cane is as follows, 
per cent. : — 

No. 96. 
Water 72*1 • Sugar IS'O Woody fibre and salts 9-9 



252 



NON-NITROGENOUS VEGETABLE EOODS. 



There is a larger proportion of sugar in the juices at 
the lower part of the stem, and 100 lbs. of mixed cane 
yield about 70 lbs. of sugar. 



No. 97. 




The Sugar Cane {Saccharinum officinale) . 



The machiner}^ now employed in the manufacture of 
sugar from the sugar- cane is ingenious and expensive, 
but the process of manufacture is simple. The canes 
are passed through slowly revolving rollers, which 
press out the juice, and the juice is then mixed with 



SUGAR. 253 

a little quick-lime and passed through a series of heated 
pans. In this process it is heated more and more until 
it boils furiously, by which the impurities rise as a scum, 
to the surface, whence they are removed, whilst the 
juice is reduced to the consistence of oil. The further 
evaporation and crystallisation takes place in vacuum- 
pans, where the crystallised is separated from the un- 
crystallised sugar or treacle, and is ready for the 
market, and much skill and care are exercised in the 
manufacture of the sugar. 

The crystals of sugar when purified are colourless, 
but before decolorisation are usually tinged by the 
adhesion of a. dark syrup, consisting of un crystallised 
sugar and fruit sugar. The chief object in the pro- 
cess of refining is to get rid of these impurities, and 
this is effected by two processes, known as the clay pro- 
cess (from which such sugars are known as clayed 
sugars) and the centrifugal process. 

In the former, a layer of very moist clay is placed 
over the sugar, and the water leaving the clay passes 
slowly through the mass of sugar, and carries off the 
syrup adhering to the crystals, whilst, at the same time, 
it dissolves and removes but a very small quantity of 
the crystallised sugar. In the latter, the sugar is 
caused to revolve at a great speed in the inside of a 
drum, which is covered by fine wire gauze, and the 
syrup is thrown through the meshes of the gauze, whilst 
the sugar is retained within. 

Refined sugar is of two descriptions, viz., loaf sugar 
and pieces, the former produced in London, the latter 
at Bristol and in Scotland ; but it is by no means easy 
for one ignorant of the trade to distinguish the one from 
the other. 

- In both alike the raw sugar is dissolved in water and 
boiled, and the impurities are removed either by the 



254 NON-NITROGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

addition of bullocks' blood, which causes them to rise to 
the surface, or by passing the syrup through cotton 
bags. It is rendered colourless by filtering the clarified 
syrup through layers of charcoal, and it is again con- 
centrated by placing it in the vacuum -pan. After a 
certain time crystals begin to form, and are enlarged 
by the addition of fresh syrup and a continuance of the 
boiling process ; and when large enough the sugar is 
withdrawn from the vacuum-pan, and placed in ' forms ' 
to complete the crystallisation. 

When it is intended to make loaf-sugar, the uncrys- 
tallised syrup is removed from the crystals by the 
addition of a concentrated solution of pure sugar, which 
carries off the syrup and leaves the crystals clear ; and 
the latter, having been dried in a stove and turned in a 
lathe, form the loaf-sugar of commerce. The drainings 
are, however, again concentrated by boiling, and yield 
a proportion of crystals, which become loaf-sugar of an 
inferior quality, whilst that part which cannot be crys- 
tallised is sold as treacle. Wlien, however, loaf-sugar 
can no longer be produced, a moist sugar, containing 
some treacle, is made and sold as ' bastards ' ; and all 
that cannot be so prepared is disposed of as treacle. 

In making ^ pieces,' the separation of the uncrys- 
tallisable part is effected by the centrifugal machine, 
and the first i^roduction of crystals is called ' lumps,' 
whilst ail others from the same syrup are termed 
* pieces.' Ultimately all, or nearly all, the treacle or 
syrup is absorbed by a sort of bastard crystals, and 
sold as raw sugar. 

It is a familiar fact that all kinds of sugar have not 
the same sweetening properties, but the degree of 
variation is not by any means well known. This is due, 
in part, to the quality of the source whence it is derived, 
for where there is much grape or fruit-sugar mixed 



SUGAR. 255 

with the cane-sugar, as, for example, in beet-root juice, 
the sweetening property is lessened in proportion 
to the amount of fruit-sugar. In other part it is due 
to the process of manufacture, for the heating process 
converts cane-sugar into fruit-sugar, and the more so 
the longer the process is continued. Hence, the first 
crystallisation contains the greatest proportion of cane- 
sugar, and is the sweetest, whilst the quality deteriorates 
at every succeeding crystallisation ; and finally the 
treacle, or uncrystallisable syrup, consists largely of 
fruit sugar. These qualities may be in great part deter- 
mined by the size of the crystals, for it lessens as the 
quality deteriorates, and at length is supplanted by 
granulation, or bastard crystallisation. 

The aim of the refiner is, therefore, to select a raw 
sugar which contains the least quantity of impurity, or 
any flavour distinct from that of sugar, and which also 
yields the greatest proportion of cane-sugar, whilst in 
the process he seeks to produce the largest and whitest 
crystals, and to cause the least quantity of granules or 
crystals to absorb the greatest amount of uncrys- 
tallisable syrup ; that is to say, to make the greatest 
quantity of sugar and the least of syrup. 

That kind should be preferred for domestic use which 
consists of the largest crystals, and has the least propor- 
tion of moisture ; and, as it respects loaf or lump sugar- 
considerable time should be allowed for the perfect 
solution of such crystals. A very moist raw sugar, which 
has an homogeneous appearance when rubbed between 
the thumb and finger, and a refined sugar, which is 
broken with comparative ease, and not of a pure white 
colour, should be avoided. It is also very useful to 
judge of sugar by the smell, for ' pieces ' and raw sugar 
from beet-root have an unpleasant odour, whilst pure 
sugars are entirely, or almost entirely, free from it. 



256 NON-NITEOGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

The amount of sugar in different specimens varies 
from 100 per cent, in pure refined sugar and sugar 
candy to 94, 88, 80, and 67 per cent, in the first, second, 
third, and fourth classes of unrefined sugar, in ac- 
cordance with the classification adopted by the Sugar 
Convention of the different Governments. 

The adulteration of cane sugar is effected with starch, 
glucose, and grape sugar, all of which lessen its sweet- 
ening power without introducing any deleterious pro- 
perty. Sand and water are also added with a view to 
increase the weight, but it is believed that this mode of 
adulteration is now much less frequent than formerly. 
Starch may be readily detected by the iodine test, and 
sand by its insolubility and grittiness. Iron is not un- 
frequently found in the low class of sugars as an 
impurity, and renders the infusion of tea black by its 
action on the tannin of the tea leaf. 

The Chinese sugar grass [Sorghum satxharatum) , a 
kind of barley, is also largely used in China, America, 
and Europe, for the production of sugar, as the date, 
fio^, and similar fruits are used in Asiatic countries for 
the same purpose. It is well known that the common 
barley of this country contains so large a proportion of 
saccharine matter that by the process of malting it 
yields the sugar contained in beer and porter, and is 
therefore an important source of that food. 

The sugar maple {Acer saccJiariyium) abounds in North 
America, and resembles the sycamore tree. It is not 
generally grown purposely for the production of sugar, 
but its juices are very abundant in the spring and 
summer, and yield a large amount of it. One tree yields 
from two to six pounds of sugar yearly, and one pound 
of sugar is produced from four gallons of sap. The 
method adopted to procure sugar is very simple. Holes 
are bored obliquely upwards into the lower part of the 



SUGAR. 257 

trunk of the tree in the spring season, through wliich 
the juice exudes, and bj a proper apparatus the juices 
may be collected in vessels, without waste and almost 
without labour. Thus obtained, they are of a brown 
colour, and on evaporation and condensation by arti- 
ficial heat yield sugar in both a crystalline and non- 
crystalline form, which is run into moulds. It is not 
generally prepared for sale, and therefore is rarely 
purified or decolorised, and hence, although it sweetens 
well, it has other flavours besides those due to the sugar, 
an'd would not be preferred to the purified cane sugar 
of the market where that could be obtained at or about 
the same cost. 

It is for the most part prepared by the settlers in 
America for their own use, and is therefore obtained at 
small cost. 

There are also numerous palms which yield sugar 
very freely, and particularly in India, where the juice is 
expressly used for this purpose. It is obtained by cut- 
ting off the male flower when young, and allowing the 
juice to flow for several months, during which time it 
is collected, and then evaporated and purified. Such 
palms are the Wild date and the Arenga saccharifera. 

Beet-root sugar was first made in 1747, and is 
now more largely produced in Trance than in any 
other country, not only for home consumption, but 
for export to England. This is, however, due less 
to the special superiority of this source of production 
than to the absence of Trench colonies, whence the 
sugar could be obtained from the sugar-cane and 
imported into France. Hence, in order to foster 
native industry, as well as to supply sugar economicallj^, 
the French have given great attention to the culti- 
vation of beet-root (both for this product and for the 
distillation of alcohol), and have succeeded in pro- 



258 NON-KITROGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

ducing a very refined sugar, wLich looks extremely well, 
if it does not sweeten so well as the less refined sugar of 
the sugar-cane. It is, moreover, grown largely for the 
same purpose throughout the continent of Europe, and 
its production is increasing in Australia and Tasmania. 
In this country also, the beet-root is cultivated for the 
preparation of both sugar and alcohol, and, notwith- 
standing the advantages which we possess in the im- 
portation of cane sugar, it is probable that this will 
become a j)rofitable and important business. 

The preparation of sugar from beet-root is carried on 
with the best skill and apparatus, whilst the mode is 
probably more simple than that of sugar from the sugar- 
cane. The beet-root is first detached from the green top, 
and then cleaned from dirt, and washed in a cylinder or 
other washing machine. The next process is to rasp or 
tear it into the smallest pieces, and thus to open the 
. cells which contain the juices, and allow the latter to be 
readily removed. This is perhaps the most important 
part of the proceeding, for it has been found that pres- 
sure alone, however great, does not remove more than 
two-thirds of the amount which may be obtained by 
first rasping the root. It is then subjected to pressure, 
by which probably 80 per cent, of all the juices are 
extracted and afterwards mixed with lime. The pro- 
cesses of purification, concentration, and crystallisation, 
are carried on until the sugar is prepared for the market 
or for the further operations of the refiner. 

It is needless to show how universally this substance 
enters into the dietaries of every class in every place. 
There are of course immense tracts of country where 
sugar in a separated form is not obtained, but even 
there it is eaten in milk, fruits and other animal and 
vegetable productions. Thus in the deserts of Arabia 
the tamarind and camel's milk are the chief sources of 



SUGAR. 



259 



its production, whilst the fig, date and innumerable 
luscious fruits yield it in tropical and other Asi;itic 
countries. 

The following table shows the quantity of sugar 
which is contained in ordinary foods : — 

No. 98. 



Sugar in various products (per cent.) 




Eaw sugar 


950 


Wheat flour . 


. 4-2 


Treacle . 


77-0 


Eye meal . 


. 3-7 


Butter-milk 


6-4 


Wheaten bread . 


. 3-6 


Carrots 


6-1 


Potatoes 


. 3-2 


Parsnips . 


5-8 


Turnips 


. 3-1 


Oatmeal . 


6-4 


Peas . 


. 20 


Skim milk . 


5-4 


Indian meal "1 
Rice J 


0-4 


New milk . 


5-2 




Barley meal 


4-9 







It is impossible to estimate the effect of the entire 
withdrawal of an important article from the food of 
mankind ; but it may be doubted whether the loss of 
a.ny one element of food would be so keenly felt as that 
of sugar. So necessary is it, in fact, that starch, the 
other universal vegetable food, is transformed into sugar 
in its course of chemical change within the body. 

The ultimate chemical composition of dried sugtar is 
as follows, in 100 parts : — 



No. 99. 






C. 


H. 


0. 


. 12 


11 


11 + water 


. 12 


u 


11 



Milk sugar 
Cane sugar 

There a.re 2,800 grains of carbon in 1 lb. of ordinary 
moist sugar, and there should not be any nitrogen. 

Ten grains of lump sugar when burnt in the body 
produce heat sufiicient to raise 8'61 lbs. of water 1° F., 
which is equal to lifting 6,649 lbs. one foot high. 

It was indicated as the respiratory food par excellence 
in my Memoire published in the Annates de r Academic 



260 NON-NITEOOEXOUS VLG-ETABLE FOODS. 

des Sciences de Montfellier, 1860; and is the most striking 
illustration of a respiratory food which we possess, for 
not only does it exert a great and rapid influence over 
the respiratory process, but it is itself entirely trans- 
it rmed into carbonic acid and water, both of which 
pass off from the body by the lungs. 

Its action is very rapid, commencing within five to 
ten minutes after it is eaten in solution, attaining its 
maximum in about thirty minutes, and disappearing 
within two hours. My experiments on the different 
kinds of sugar have been very numerous, but it will 
suffice here to give a general indication of the results. 

One ounce and a half of white sugar dissolved in water 
gave a maximum increase in the carbonic acid evolved 
of 2-18 grains per minute, and of the air inspired of 
111 cubic inches per minute. The rate of respiration 
and of pulsation was lessened (No. 100). 

In an experiment when the whole of the carbonic acid 
evolved was collected, it was proved that after taking 500 
grains of white sugar in cold water, there was an in- 
crease of 1-57 grain per minute during the first half- 
hour, and of -58 grain per minute during the second 
half-hour, whilst after one hour and a-half the quantity 
was still increased by 0*12 grain per minute. The 
increase in the quantity of air inspired was 19*3 cubic 
inches per minute during the first half-hour, of 30 '6 
cubic inches per minute during the second half-hour, 
and of 8-3 cubic inches per minute during the third 
half-hour. When the sugar was eaten dry, the effect was 
less, but it was rapidly increased on drinking water 
(No. 100). 

The addition of 6 drachms of good vinegar to 750 
grains of sugar was to increase the effect of the sugar. 
The maximum increase of carbonic acid was 3*3 grains 
in 20 minutes, and the whole average increase through- 



Page 260. 



JLei58. 



Z3 2*^^^^ 2? Series, 



w&za^^OT-. 




1-^-T 



TREACLE. 261 

out one hour and a-half was no less than 1*24 grain 
per minute. The maximum increase in the air inspired 
was 79 cubic inches in 20 minutes (No. 100). 

The addition of an alkali did not increase the effect 
of the sugar. Thus, 750 grains of white sugar with 40 
minims of Liquor Potassoe and twelve ounces of water 
gave a maximum increase of 2 '13 grains of carbonic acid 
per minute, but the increase in the quantity of air 
inspired was no less than 165 cubic inches per minute 
(No. 100). 

The addition of 500 grains of butter lessened the 
effect of the sugar to a maximum increase of only 1*3 
grain of carbonic acid and 48 cubic inches of air per 
minute (No. 100). 

Milk sugar has less influence than cane sugar, and 
g'rape sugar less than either. The maximum increase of 
carbonic acid from the former was 1*62 grain, and with 
the latter 1*3 grain per minute, and of air 24 cubic 
inches per minute (No. 100). 

There was always great ease and depth of respiration 
after taking sugar, so that it was so far an agreeable 
food, but in five minutes there was sometimes a sour 
taste in the mouth, and it differed from ordinary food in 
causing a craving for food in about a hour and a half. 

Treacle, Molasses, and Golden Syrup. 

Treacle is the uncrystallisable juice of the sugar-cane 
or other source of sugar, which is left after the crystal- 
lised sugar has been separated. It is a natural product, 
since some of the saccharine juice is not capable of crys- 
tallisation ; but it is further an artificial product, as the 
result of the action of heat during the sugar-making 
process, which renders a part of the sugar uncrystal- 
lisable which, would otherwise have crystallised. 



262 



NON-NITROGENOUS VEaETABLE FOODS. 



It is not so pure as crystallised sugar, since it con- 
tains matters which are excluded in crystallisation, but 
it possesses remarkable sweetening- properties, and 
except that it contains nearly 20 per cent, more water 
than moist sugar, is as useful as sugar when the 
flavour is not objectionable. 

Treacle, as it is ordinarily understood, is produced 
when sugar is being extracted from the juice of the 
sugar-cane, while golden syrup is the same kind of pro- 
duct when the moist sugar is being refined. The latter 
is much lighter in colour and clearer than the former, 
and is sold at a higher price, but its sweetening proper- 
ties are very inferior to those of treacle. The treacle 
which is obtained from the sugar maple is preferred to 
any other. 

Mr. lire found the following quantities of sugar in 
treacle and syrups of varied specific gravity, and 
established the rule that if the decimal parts of the 
specific gravity be multiplied by twenty-six, it will give 
very nearly the number of pounds of sugar in each 

gallon : — 

No. 101. 



Sp. gr. 


Sugar per cent. 
by weight 


Sp. gr. 


Sngar per cent, 
by weight 


1-0395 


. 10 


1-1110 


. 26316 


l-OoOO 


. 12-5 


1-1250 


. 29-412 


1-0685 


. 16-666 


1-1340 . 


. ■ 31-25 


1-0820 


. 20 


1-1440 . 


. 33-333 


1-0905 


. 21-74 


1-2310 


. 50 


1-1045 


. 25 


1-3260 


. 66-666 



Sugar Candy oe Barley Sugar. 

This is used rather as a luxury than a food, and 
requh-es but little notice here. It is obtained by 
the slow evaporation of cane sugar in large crystalline 
masses, which are hard and do not so readily absorb 
moisture as ordinary sugar. It is sweet, but by no 



HONEY. 268 

means so sweet as sugar, and could not be used with 
advantage to sweeten foods. The process through 
which the sugar has passed in the preparation of sugai 
candy is apt to change its chemical composition, so 
that it consists in great part of caramel, and is not a 
true sugar. The chem-ical composition of caramel differs 
from that of sugar bj the loss of the elements of 
water, and is in 100 parts : — 

No. 102. 
C. 12 H. 9 0. 9 

Whenever sugar is exposed to a considerable heat, 
as in the manufacture of fruit preserves, a part of it is 
converted into caramel, and by continuing the process 
it may be converted into glucose, and entirely lose its 
sweetening properties. 

Honey. 

Honey is a well-known product of the activity of the 
working or neuter bee, but not of the bee itself, for it 
is simply collected by that useful insect, and varies 
in quality according to the plants which produce it. 
Whilst, therefore, it is mild or bland in one locality, 
its flavour may be far more aromatic and stimulating 
to the taste in another, so thlat honey produced from 
village gardens, or from heather, or from the Swiss 
herbage, has very different flavours, and produces dif- 
ferent effects. 

Honey obtained from certain localities is known to be 
poisonous, and to produce giddiness or temporary mad- 
ness, as is recorded in the report of the Eetreat of the 
Ten Thousand ; and without proceeding to that length, it 
.must be within the experience of many that they have 
sometimes experienced nausea and a sense of malaise Sit 



264 NON-NITKOGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

tlie stomach, after eating it. How far this affects all 
individuals alike is not known : but it is not unusual to 
hear a visitor to Switzerland say that he liked the 
honey, but it did not agree with him. 

This substance is found usually at the base of the 
petal of the flower, and in the nectiferous glands. The 
bee sucks it by its proboscis, and transfers it to its honey 
bag or dilated oesophagus, whence it deposits it, without 
chemical change, in the hive for future use. The hive, as 
is well known, contains several combs, which consist of a 
series of hexagonal cells, adhering to each other by their 
sides. In a comparatively few instances cells for the re- 
ception of honey are specially made of an elongated form, 
but usually the honey is deposited in old cells which have 
become too small to hold the larvse, or in the ordinary 
cells after the breeding season is over. They are open 
to the bees until they have been filled with honey, and 
afterwards tliey are closed with wax until the honey 
is required for use. 

Hives vary very much in the quantity of honey which 
they contain, but those of our cottagers, which are 
robbed every year, produce twenty to forty pounds, 
whilst in the decayed^ trees of the American forests, 
and in Palestine, they have been known to conxain 
more than two hundred pounds. Yirgin honey is 
the portion which first runs off, either with or without 
the aid of gentle heat, whilst pressure and heat are 
used in the extraction of that which follows. The 
former is the purer and sweeter kind, whilst the latter 
has a deeper colour, less translucency, more impurity, 
and a stronger flavour. The latter, when produced from 
old combs, is usually of very dark colour, and often of a 
disagreeable sticky waxy flavour. Every kind but virgin 
honey is clarified by causing the impurities to rise to 
the surface by heat and then skimming them off. 



HONEY. 265 

This has always been regarded as a luscious and 
coveted food, so that the excellence of Palestine was re- 
presented bjthe spies describing it as a land that 'floweth 
with milk and honey' (Numb. xiii. 27). When Jacob 
wished to propitiate the governor of Egypt, he sent him 
'a little honey ' (Gen. xliii. 7). It was also well known 
as an article of ordinary food, so that John the Baptist's 
* meat was locusts and wild honey.' It was also pre- 
pared into wafers (Ex. xvi. 31), into a kind of bread 
with flour and oil, and even eaten with butter, when it 
was the most delicious compound known. Solomon, 
however, was well aware that ' it is not good to eat too 
much honey,' and it is very curious and interesting to 
observe that whilst its use was so common amongst 
the Jews, it was forbidden to offer it as a part of their 
ritual, for it was said, ' Ye shall burn no leaven nor any 
honey ' (Lev. ii. 7). 

Honey is, moreover, mentioned by writers of anti- 
quity of all nations, so that its use was very general. 
It was always particularly esteemed in this island, 
when sugar could not be obtained, and so largely was it 
used that the clarification of it, by boiling it with white 
of eggs, was a recognised branch of trade. It was 
used in cooking as well as to sweeten food, and was 
largely employed, even to a recent date, in the manu- 
facture of fermented liquors, as mead and metheglin. 

It has also been a source of profit in all time. 
Judah sold honey to the Tyrians (Ezek. xxvii. 17), 
and in the Western States of America, bee tracking and 
honey and wax selling are common and profitable occu- 
pations. In our own country, a large proportion of 
the cottagers keep hives, and the thriftj^ housewife 
dresses her children and sometimes pays the rent 
thereby. 

The bee is. found in aU temperate and warm climates. 



266 NON-NITEOGENOUS VEGETABLE FOODS. 

and so numerous are the varieties that no less than 
250 exist in Britain alone. 

The comjDOsition of honey varies within certain 
limits, according to the plants from which it is 
derived, but it is always highly saccharine, and of the 
consistence of very thick fluid. The sugar is found in 
both crystallised and un crystallised forms, as coarse 
sugar, grape-sugar, and glucose or mannite : and, in 
addition, there is gum, wax, mucilage, extractive 
matters, acid, and peculiar flavours. The pollen powder 
of flowers is very commonly mixed with it, and is said 
to be the cause of certain ill efifects on the system. 
After it has been kept for some time it ceases to be a 
fluid, and appears as a solid crystallised mass, in which 
state it has lost much of its richness and flavour. 

So valuable a substance could not escape adulteration, 
and is often found mixed with starch and sulphate of 
lime. The former may be determined by the micro- 
scope (Nos. 46, 47), and the latter by being insoluble 
when the honey is mixed with water. 

Manna. 

This substance is probably the same as that called 
manna in the Bible, and is clearly analogous to it, 
both in appearance and qualities. 

' And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the 
face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small 
as the hoarfrost on the ground.' — Ex. xvi. 14. 'And the 
manna was as coriander seed.' ' And the people went about, 
and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, 
and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it : and the taste of 
it was as the taste of fresh oil. And when the dew fell upon 
the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.' — ISTumb. xi. 
7, 8, and 9. 

In Kurdistan, Lebanon, and elsewhere, it is found on 



MANNA. 267 

the leaves of various plants, as the dwarf oak, tamarisk, 
and lai'ch, and is shaken from them before sunrise into 
cloths which have been placed underneath. It is also 
sometimes found upon sand and stones, and is then 
whiter and purer than the tree manna ; but its appear- 
ance depends upon the dews or rain, so that it is chiefly 
found during a period of six weeks in the end of 
autumn and the early spring. 

Its flavour is agreeably aromatic, and like that of 
honey, to which substance it is made to have a further 
resemblance by the mode of preparing it into a paste, 
after it has been thoroughly cleansed from leaves and 
other impurities by being boiled. In the state in which 
it is found it resembles a coriander seed. 

The honey-dew, which is found on. many plants under 
certain atmospheric conditions, and which attracts 
destroying insects, to the horror of the gardener, is 
probably of the nature of manna. It is said to be 
sweetish in flavour, and sometimes is sufficiently abun- 
dant to faU from one leaf to another. 

A shower of manna was recorded in July of last year, 
which appeared as small seeds on the leaves of trees 
and on the ground. 



PART II. 



LIQUIDS. 



CHAPTEE XXXIIL 

WATES. 

It is needless to insist that water is a most important 
food, for it is foand in all foods, whether solid, liquid, 
or gaseous, and is taken into the body to the amount 
of several pints daily. It, moreover, constitutes about 
87 per cent, of the whole bulk of the body, and as 
it wastes at every moment, it must be restored by a 
new supply. 

It is required for many purposes : — First, to soften or 
dissolve solid foods, so as to facilitate their mastication 
and digestion ; second, to maintain a due bulk of blood 
and the structures of the body; third, to keep sub- 
stances in solution or suspension whilst moving in the 
body; fourth, to supply elements in the chemical 
changes of the body ; fifth, to enable the waste material 
to be carried away from the body ; sixth, to discharge 
superfluous heat by transpiration through the skin, and 
by emission through other outlets ; and seventh, to 
supply in a convenient form heat to, or to abstract heat 
from, the body. Some of these functions are performed 
by water in its liquid state, and others in a state of 
vapour. 



270 



LIQUID FOODS. 



The importance of tliese statements will be better 
appreciated by a consideration of the proportionate 
quantities of water which are present in various solid, 
liquid, and gaseous foods, and in the excretions, as 
shown in the following table : — 



No. 103. 
Water in various Foods and Excretions. 



Ingesta. 



Arrowroot 


. 18 per 


Barley flour 


. 15 „ 


Beer and ale 


. 91 „ 


Butter milk 


. 88 „ 


Carrots 


. 83 „ 


Cheese 


. 36 „ 


Coffee 


nearly 100 „ 


Cream 


. ^Q „ 


Dried bacon 


. 15 „ 


Eels . 


. 75 „ 


Egg. . 


. 74 „ 


Fat beef . 


. 61 , 


Fat mutton 


. 63 „ 


Fat pork . 


. 39 „ 


Green bacon 


. 24 „ 


Indian meal 


• 14 „ 


Lean beef . 


. 72 „ 


Lean mutton 


. 72 „ 


New milk . 


. 86 „ 


Oatmeal . 


. 15 „ 


Ox liver . 


. . 74 „ 


Parsnips . 


. 82 „ 


Pea meal . 

rrn 1-* 


. 15 „ 

- -J. _I? XI- _ 



JLVS UUtLVU JJJtOVI e 

Potatoes . 


lil/Ult/O 


75 


per cent 


Poultry . 


. 


74 


„ 


Pure butter and fats 


15 


,, 


Eice . 




13 


„ 


Eye meal . 




15 


„ 


Salmon 




77 


„ 


Skim cheese 




44 


„ 


Skim milk 




88 


if 


Sugar 




5 


»> 


Tea . 


nearly 


J 100 


ft 


Treacle . 




23 


>» 


Tripe 




68 


>♦ 


Turnips . 




91 


» 


Veal 




63 


>» 


Wheaten bread 




37 


,, 


Wheaten flour 




15 


>» 


AVhite fish 




78 




White of egg 




78 


» 


Yolk of egg 




78 


j> 


'Estimated 


Eget 


ta, daily. 


Faeces 




3 ounces 


Transpiration 


. 


40 


,, 


Urine 




40 


>> 



The subject of the purity of water is one of the 
leading questions of the day, and vast efforts are made 
to show what sources are pure and what impure, and 
how contamination may be avoided ; but we are met on 
the threshold of the enquiry with the question. What 
is pure water? and no absolute standard has, as yet, 
been agreed upon. 



WATER. 271 

It is true that water may be made simply from two 
gases — oxygen and hydrogen — by mixing two volumes 
of the latter with one of the former, and passing an 
electric spark through them ; but as such water does 
not exist in Nature, how can it be taken as the 
standard of purity ? Water which has been distilled 
approaches this in composition, but it has, at least, 
1-85 per cent, by volume of atmospheric air mixed with 
it, and not unfrequently traces of ammonia ; but if it 
had not these additions, the same objection to its use as 
a standard exists, viz., that it is not found in Nature. 
All known natural waters possess other elements, such 
as salts of lime, which are found as the solid residue 
after the fluid has been evaporated, besides minute 
quantities of organic matters and ammonia ; and how, 
then, can we avoid the conclusion that such elements 
are nafcurjil to water, are a part of the water^ are, so far 
as they go, water ? If so, their presence cannot render 
the water impure, and water containing them must be 
called pure water. 

Further, it may readily be shown that these addi- 
tional substances, and particularly the salts of lime 
and magnesia, are required by the body, and must 
be obtained from either solid or liquid food; and, 
if they are foods, how can they be regarded as im- 
purities ? 

Viewing water practically as a food, it must be said 
to consist of such elements as are met Avith in the 
largest and best sources. Water is essential to life; 
and it is idle to suppose that man has been left to 
create for himself a substance which is essential to his 
existence, or that he could by any artificial means pre- 
pare it in sufficient quantity and of a higher degree of 
purity ; or, in other words, with fewer elements than 
Nature has provided. Such water as Nature has sup- 
13 



272 



LIQUID FOODS. 



plied must, therefore, be regarded as normal^ and its 
constituents as a necessary part of it. 

But if this be admitted, we shall not have got rid of 
the question as to i^liat is purity in water, for the same 
elements which exist in normal water are found in 
water which must be called abnormal, but in much 
greater quantity, and as some of these have been derived 
from foreign sources, and are injurious to health, they 
may fairly be called impure. Hence, normal and ab- 
normal, if not pure and impure waters, are distinguished 
only by the amount of certain substances which are 
common to all. 

Rain-water itself is no exception to the rule, for it is 
not possible to collect it on the earth without some 
admixture of solid matters obtained in its passage 
through the atmosphere. 

Dr. Angus Smith, in his excellent work on Air and 
Rain, has delineated some of the substances which rain 
brings down from the air in the neighbourhood of 
Manchester, and Dr. Hassall and others have published 
drawings illustrating the same subject. The following 
is a sketch of substances found in the water, and of 
crystals produced in the evaporation of the rain-water, 
in the neighbourhoods of Manchester, Newcastle, and 
London :— 

No. 104. — EaIN- WATER. 




WATER. 



273 



The substances found in rain-water, collected before 
it lias touched the earth, are minute animalcules, ves- 
tiges of living creatures, portions of hair and raw or 
manufactured materials, phosphates, sulphates, nitrates, 
chlorides, and ammonia. These vary, according to the 
locality, so that the chlorides being derived from 
common salt, are usually more abundant near the sea, 
whilst nearly all contaminating substances are more 
abundant in the air over large towns, and where there 
are special manufactories. 

The quantities are, however, very small, and are 
better expressed in comparative than absolute terms, as 
has been done by Dr. Angus Smith : — 

No. 105. 



Gom;paratwe. 
Ireland — Yalentia ..... 


Acidity 
none 


Ammonia 
. 1-0 


Albu- 
menised 
Ammonia 
. 1-0 


England — Inland country places 


none 


. 5-94 


. 3-21 


„ Sea coast .... 


none 


. 10-55 




Scotland — Sea coast, country places, west 


1-0 


. 2-69 


. 3-09 


Inland 


2-27 


. 2-96 


. 1-15 


„ Sea coast „ average 


9-30 


. 4-10 


. 3-11 


east 


17-61 


. 5-51 


. 3-1 


„ Towns (not including Grlasgow) 


22-85 


. 21-22 


. 6-23 


German specimens . . 


9-22 




. 3-59 


Darmstadt ..... 




12-56 






London, 1869 




27-97 


. 19-17 


. 6-03 


St. Helen's 




28-71 


. 25-33 


. 6-76 


Manchester, 1869 . 




60-13 


. 35-33 


. 6-38 


average of 1869-70 . 




73-44 


. 35-94 


. 7-38 


1870 ... 




86-76 


. 36-54 


. 8-38 


Runcorn 




82-40 


. 2572 


. 5-59 


Liverpool 




83-46 


. 29-89 


. 4-67 


Grlasgow 




109-16 


. 50-55 


. 8-22 


England — Towns .... 




61-57 


. 28-67 


. 6-29 



As a rule, rain-water gives an acid reaction, either as 
it falls or directly after it has touched the earth, but 
sometimes it is alkaline. 



274 LIQUID FOODS. 

The water, tlms reaching the earth, dissolves animal 
and vegetable substances with which it comes in con- 
tact, such as the manures and other decaying sub- 
stances on the fields, or the substances in the body of 
the earth, as it runs off quickly into the rivers or 
percolates through the strata, and reappears as springs 
or as drainage water flowing into rivers. In the latter 
case it will have lost much of the animal matter which 
it had dissolved at the surface, whilst it has gained 
minerals from beneath the surface. 

Hence it follows that the quantity of the several 
substances which it has appropriated will vary accord- 
ing to the state of the atmosphere, the surface of the 
soil, the material of the subsoil; and of those which 
it subsequently lost by the perfection of the percolating 
or filtering process. 

But having been collected into rivers or wells, its 
character may be entirely changed by subsequent addi- 
tions, so that animal excreta or relicta, or decaying 
vegetable, or other matters known as dirt, may get 
into the well from surface drains, or by percolation 
through the subsoil, from cesspools, or such matters, 
with more or less of the soil itself, may be found in the 
rivers. 

Hence, our examples of normal water should be 
taken from localities where the atmosphere is the most 
pure, animal productions rare, the volume of water 
large and in motion as in our lakes, or from deep 
artesian and other wells. 

The oxygen thus found in water not only as a gas 
renders the water more agreeable to the palate, but 
by chemical action oxidises and purifies contaminating 
matters which may have gained access to them. The 
normal proportion of the oxygen to the nitrogen is as 
one volume to two volumes, and when it is reduced 



WATER. 275 

below that standard there is evidence that it has been 
consumed by this process. Thus, in reference to the 
Thames water, Professor Miller found that the proportion 
progressively diminished from Kingston to Woolwich, 
as shown in the following table : — 

No. 106. 





Kingston 


Oxygen 
Nitrogen 


Cub. cent. 
. 7-4 
. 150 



Hammer- 
smith 


Somerset 
House 


Greenwich 


Woolwich 


Cub. cent. 


Cub. cent. 


Cub. cent. 


Cub. cent. 


41 


lb 


0-25 


1-8 


151 


16-2 


14-5 


15-5 



The quantity of nitrogen may be greater than the 
proportion which exists in atmospheric air, as in some 
of the springs at Bath and on the Continent. 

The power of water to absorb gases varies with the 
pressure of the atmosphere and the temperature. 
At the ordinary pressure and with a temperature of 32^ 
it will be about 3*^th of its volume of nitrogen, and a 
yet larger j)roportion of hydrogen, whilst with in- 
creased pressure the power may be increased many fold. 

We will now proceed to show the actual composition 
of such water — of water indeed which we must regard 
as our normal standard. 

1. As to Atmospheric Air. 

The presence of atmospheric air gives vivacity to 
the flavour which is always agreeable, and in an ex- 
aggerated degree is experienced in drinking aerated 
waters. Water cannot be obtained without it, for 
even rain-water usually contains 2\ volumes of air 
in 100 of water, and yet such water is sometimes 
called flat or insipid. Eunning water usually contains 
a larger volume of air than still water, and particu- 
larly such as ripples over stones or falls from a 
height by which it is mixed with air, and is far more 
agieeable th^n distilled water, and more useful as a 



276 



LIQUID FOODS. 



food in certain culinary operations, as, for example, in 
making tea and beer. 

2. As to Mineral Matters. 

The following is the total solid residue and the 

degree of hardness in the waters of some English, 

Scotch, and Swiss lakes : — 

No. 107. 

In 100,000 lbs. of water 



Bassenthwaite lake 






Solid residue Degree of hardness, or 
lbs. lbs. of mineral matter 
. 4-64 . . . 1-74 


Buttermere 






. 3-56 






4-04 


Crummock Water 






. 4-06 






. 101 


Derwent Water. 






. 6-56 






1-3 


Ennerdale lake. 






2-16 






1-45 


Grassmere 






. 4-18 






2-7 


Windermere 






. 5-78 






31 


Bala lake . 






. 2-79 






0-4 


Banw and Eira. 






4-86 






2-0 


Colinton Water 






. 14-1 






9-17 


Lake of Geneva 






. 15-2 








Swanston Water 






. 12-7 






6-22 


Zurich, lake 






14-3 






10-61 


Zug . . . . 






. 13-2 






903 



Certain veiy 
tities : — 



lo Z . . . U Ud 

deep wells give the following quan- 



go. 108. 



In 100,000 lbs. of water 



Deal. . . . . 


Solid residue 

lbs. 
. 33-24 


Degree of hardness, or 
lbs. of mineral matter 
. 26-31 


London — Royal Mint 


. 83-96 . 


. 17-48 


Trafalgar Square 
Northampton . 
Tring 


. 83-4 . 
. 57-76 
. 28-6 . 


. 5-92 
. 10-33 
. 26-33 


rings and other wells of less depth 


: — 


Ben Rhydding , 
Critchmere springs . 
Malvern — Holywell . 
„ St. Ann's . 


. 8-0 
. 6-24 
. 9-37 . 
. 5-68 


. 2-6 


Spring at Witby 


. . 7-6 


! 2-8 



WATER. 



277 



Great collecting areas away from tlie habitations of 
men, where pollution seems to be almost impossible, 
give the following numbers in 100,000 lbs. or 10,000 
gallons of water : — 



Ko. 


109. 














Total solid residue 


Degree of hardness, or 




lbs. 


lbs. of mineral matter 


Batley gathering ground 


. 7-60 . 




. 3-33 


Halifax 


. 8-16 . 




. 3-20 


Manchester reservoirs, in Derbyshire . 6*2 




. 3-73 


Rivington Pike . 


. 8-48 . 




. 3-72 


Skiddaw .... 


. 4-34 . 




. 3-37 


Eivers which supply water to important 


towns have 


the following : — 








No. 


HO. 








T^t 


In 100,000 lbs. of water 




al solid residue 


Degree of hardness, or 




lbs. 


lbs. of mineral matter 


Avon, at junction with Frome . 


. Ill . 




. 0-35 


Calder, Rochdale road . . 




7-30 








3-77 


Cocker 




4-62 








2-15 


Crawley Burn .... 




11-28 








6-08 


Danube, near Vienna 




14-14 










Derwent 




6-00 








3-37 


Frome, below last mill 




11-6 








0-63 


Garonne, at Toulouse 




13-67 . 










Irk (one of its sources) 




19-78 











Irwell, near its source 




. 7-80 











Kent, above Carpet works . 




3-3 . 











„ below Kendal and Low mills . 


4-2 . 








trace 


Medlock, near its source . 




12-80 











Mersey, above Warrington. 




28-36 








. 2-30 


below 




29-04 








. 1-80 


Severn, above Newtown 




8-6 








. 3-09 


„ in Wales 




3-87 








. 0-9 


Thames, at Hampton 




27-87 








. trace 


„ head waters . 




28-25 












The hardness of the Thames water supply to London 
is about 14 degrees. 

Brook water varies much in the quantity of solid 
matter whicl^ it contains, according to the soil through 



278 



LIQUID FOODS. 



■which it passes, to recent rains washing soil into it, 
and to lowness of water in the summer season ; but 
such matter is only held in suspension, and will subside 
if time be allowed. It is, no doubt, an impurity, but it is 
not a very deleterious one, for such waters when clear 
do not necessarily contain any excess of organic or 
mineral matters, or nitrites, or chlorides, and are often 
soft, of good taste, and healthful. The well water in 
the cottager's yard or garden is not unfrequently much 
worse than brook water, for independently of any 
special contamination from petties, the surface water is 
often allowed to drift in and to convey impurities with it. 
But there are sources of water in which the mineral 
matter is in much greater quantity than those now 
cited, as shown in the following table : — 

No. 111. 





In 100,000 lbs. 


of water 


Solid residue Degree of hardness, or 




lbs. ] 


bs 


of mineral matter 


Bedford — Pillory pump. 


140-74 . 




. 54-51 


„ Shallow well from upper oolite 


72-46 . 




. 40-77 


Bristol — Spring in All Saints' lane 


127-28 . 




. 66-92 


„ Water supply .... 


28-66 . 




. 24-46 


Cornbrook 


76-90 . 




. 38-79 


„ near junction with Irwell 


142-90 . 




. 64-40 


Croal, near Bolton .... 


69-20 . 




. 25-67 


Deal— Deep chalk well at Hill's brewery 


202-14 . 




. 47-25 


Norwich— Artesian well, 400 ft. deep . 


88-14 . 




. 29-64 


Kochdale spring 


37-04 . 




. 14-38 


Kuncorn public fountain 


60-80 . 




. 25-34 


Worthing — New deep well in chalk 


32-44 . 




. 24-69 



Waters having this great quantity of salts of lime 
are known as hard, not only because of their flavour, 
but from the sensation which they give when used for 
washhig the skin and clothing, and are less fitted 
than soft waters for cleansing purposes. This hard- 
ness is divided into two parts, one of which is tem- 
porary, and is due to the presence of carbonic acid gas. 



WATER. 279 

which keeps salts in solution, and the other permanent. 
The former may be readily removed by simply boiling 
the water and expelling the gas when the salts are 
deposited, as is found in tea kettles and boilers, and 
hence is called temporary, whilst the other cannot be 
removed except by distillation of the water. 

This hardness has been estimated and classed in 
degrees, so that a specimen of water is said to be of so 
many degrees of hardness. This is purely technical 
but it has been agreed to consider water with 1 lb. of 
carbonate of lime (or its equivalent of other hardening 
salts) in 10,000 gallons or 100,000 lbs. of water, as 
1°, 2 lbs. 2°, &c. 

It is well known that hard water causes soap to curd 
and prevents the formation of a lather, until a large 
quantity of soap has been added. This fact has also 
been used as a measure of hardness, for it has been 
found that 12 lbs. of best hard soap must be added to 
10,000 gallons of water of 1° of hardness before a 
lather wiU. remain, and, hence, that quantity used in 
10,000 gallons or 1-2 lb. in 1,000 gallons, or 0*12 lb. 
in 100 gallons, to produce an ordinary lather, is a 
measure of 1 degree of hardness. 

Such water may be useful as a food in certain cases, 
by supplying a large quantity of lime and magnesia ; 
but, on the other hand, it is said to be a cause of 
disease, and particularly to induce calculi in the 
kidneys or bladder. 

Its flavour is harsh and disagreeable to one accus- 
tomed to drink soft water, but not necessarily so to one 
accustomed to its use. We found that those accustomed 
to drink the hard lime-waters of Illinois regarded the 
soft sandstone waters of the Missouri as flat and taste- 
less, whilst the Missourian would reject the hard water, 
and, it is said, would be more liable to fever if he used it. 



280 LIQUID FOODS. 

So also in a less degree is it in Scotland, and in otlier 
parts of onr country; each, person likes that kind of 
water to which he has been accustomed from his in- 
fancy. 

Hard water is not, however, so useful in cooking as 
soft water, and for other domestic purposes it causes an 
enormous waste of soap, labour, and material. Hence, 
it has become very desirable to soften it, and this has 
been effected by the addition of lime, in the process 
known as Clark's process. One ounce of quick-lime 
should be added to 1,000 gallons of water for every 
degrree of hardness. It is first to be slacked and stirred 
in a few gallons, and immediately poured into the 
whole quantity, taking care to repeat the operation, 
and to thoroughly mix the whole contents together. 
After this it should be left at rest, and it will become 
sufficiently clear in three hours for external nse, but 
should not be drunk for twelve hours. 

Dr. Clark patented his process in 1841, and prepared 
and applied his test in the following manner : — 

^Freparation of the Soap Test. — Sixteen grains of pure Iceland 
spar (carbonate of lime) are dissolved (taking care to avoid 
loss) in pure hydrochloric acid ; the solution is evaporated to 
dryness in an air-bath, the residue is again redissolved in 
water, and again evaporated ; and these operations are re- 
peated until the solution gives to test-paper neither an acid 
nor an alkaline reaction. The solution is made up by addi- 
tional distilled water to the bulk of precisely one gallon. It 
is then called the " standard solution of 16 degrees of hard- 
ness."^ Good London curd soap is dissolved in proof spirit, 

■ ' The 'standard solution of 16 degrees of hardness' maybe obtained 
much more simply by dissolving in a gallon of water a quantity of selenite 
equivalent to 16 grains of carbonate of lime. As the formula of selenite 
is Ca2S04 2H20 = 172, and that of carbonate of lime Ca2CO3 = 100, the 
following proportion gives us the quantity of selenite required : — 
100 : 172 :: 16 ! a?; j: = 27-52. The selenite should be reduced to fine 



WATER. 281 

in tlie proportion of one ounce of avoirdupois for every gallon 
of spirit, and the solution is filtered into a well- stoppered 
pliial, capable of holding 2,000 grains of distilled water ; 100 
test measures, each measure equal to 10 water-grain measures 
of the standard solution of ] 6 degrees of hardness, are intro- 
duced. Into the water in this phial the soap solution is gra- 
dually poured from a graduated burette ; the mixture being 
well shaken after each addition of the solution of soap, until 
a lather is formed of sufficient consistence tO' remain for five 
minutes all over the surface of the water, when the phial is 
placed on its side. The number of measures of soap solution 
is noticed, and the strength of the solution is altered, if neces- 
sary, by a further addition of either soap or spirit, until exactly 
32 measures of the liquid are required for 100 measures of the 
water of 16 degrees of hardness. The experiment is made a 
second and a third time, in order to leave no doubt as to the 
strength of the soap solution, and then a large quantity of the 
test may be prepared ; for which purpose Dr. Clark recom- 
mends to scrape ofi* the soap into shavings, by a straight sharp 
edge of glass, and to dissolve it by heat in part of the proof 
spirit, mixing the solution thus formed with the rest of the 
proof spmt. 

^ Process for ascertaining tlie Hardness of Water. — Previous 
to applying the soap test, it is necessary to expel from the 
water the excess of carbonic acid — that is, the excess over and 
above what is necessary to form alkaline or earthy bicarbon- 
ates, this excess having the property of slowly decomposing a 
lather once formed. For this purpose, before measuring out 
the w^ater for trial, it should be shaken briskly in a stoppered 
glass bottle half-filled with it, sucking out the air from the 
bottle at intervals by means of a glass tube, so as to change 
the atmosphere in the bottle ; 100 measures of the water are 
then introduced into the stoppered phial, and treated with the 
soap test, the carbonic acid eliminated being sucked out from 
time to time from the upper part of the bottle. The hardness 
of the water is then inferred directly from the number of mea- 

powder before it is weighed. It dissolves without difficulty. I do not 
know vho first proposed this method.' — E. T. C. 



282 LIQUID FOODS. 

sures of soap solution employed, by reference to t\iQ. subjoined 
table. In trials of waters above 16 degrees of hardness, 100 
measures of distilled water should be added, and 60 mea.sures 
of the soap test dropped into the mixture, provided a lather 
is not formed previously. If, at 60 test measures of soap test, or 
at any number of such measures between 32° and 60°, the proper 
lather be produced, then a final trial may be made in the fol- 
lowing manner : — 100 test measures of the water under trial 
are mixed with 100 measures of distilled water, well agitated, 
and the carbonic acid sucked out ; to this mixture soap test is 
added until the lather is produced, the number of test mea- 
sures required is divided b}^ 2, and the double of such degree 
will be the hardness of the water. For example, suppose half 
the soap test that has been required correspond to lOj^ths 
degrees of hardness, then the hardness of the water under trial 
will be 21. Suppose, however, that 60 measures of the soap 
test have failed to produce a lather, then another ]00 measures 
of distilled water are added, and the preliminary trial made, 
until 90 test measures of soap solution have been added. 
Should a lather now be produced, a final trial is made by 
adding to 100 test measures of the water to be tried, 200 test 
measures of distilled water, and the quantity of soap test re- 
quired is divided by 3 ; and the degree of hardness corre- 
sponding with the third part being ascertained by comparison 
with the standard solutions, this degree multiplied by 3 will 
be the hardness of the water. Thus, suppose 85 '5 measures 
of soap solution were required ^ = 28*5, and on referring 
to the table this number is found to correspond to 14°, which, 
multiplied by 3, gives 42° for the actual hardness of the 
water. 

' Table of soap test measures, corresponding to 100 test mea- 
sures of each standard solution : — 



Differences as for 
De^ee ot Hardness Soap Test Measure the next degree 

of Hardness 

.... 1-4 .... 1-8 

1 .... 3-2 .... 22 

2 . . . . 5-4 . . . .2-2 

. 2-0 



No. 112. 


Soap Test Measure 


1-4 . 


3-2 . 


5-4 . 


7-6 . 



WATEE. 



283 



Dogree of Hardness 

4 

6 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 



Soap Test Measure 

9-6 
11-6 
13-6 
15-6 
17-5 
19-4 
21-3 
231 
24-9 
26-7 
28-5 
30-3 
32-0 



Differences as for 
the next degree 
of Hardness 
2-0 
2-0 
20 
1-9 
1-9 
1-9 
]-8 
1-8 
1-8 
1-8 
1-8 
1-7 



3. Nitrogenous and Organic Matter, 

This is the chief element which is believed to give 
impurity to v^^ater, since it is derived from animal and 
vegetable decayed or excreted matters, and is regarded 
as preventible ; and because some kinds are apt to ex- 
cite the fermentation process both within and without 
the body and thus to engender certain important 
diseases. It is, however, necessary to distinguish be- 
tween the different forms in which nitrogen appears, 
since the effect of each is different from the other. 
Nitrogen exists in water in four forms : — 

1. As free gas. 

2. In combination with oxygen, as nitrates and 

nitrites. 

3. In combination with hydrogen, as ammonia. 

4. In connection with carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, 
in other organic forms of which albumen is taken as 
the type. 

There is no reason to believe that free nitrogen in 
water is abnormal in small, or injurious in large quan- 
tities, and it forms part of the atmospheric air, which 
In a peculiar form is present in water. It is often very 



284 LIQUID FOODS. 

abundant in mineral springs and gives fresliness to the 
taste of water. 

Nitrates and nitrites, perhaps in every proportion, 
but certainly in any quantity beyond a trace, must be 
derived from animal and vegetable matters, and so far 
excite a suspicion of tbeir injurious qualities. It is, 
however, a noticeable fact, that many good and healthful 
drinking waters contain much of these substances, and 
hence, however harmful may be their origin, they are 
themselves harmless. This results from the oxidising 
process through which they have passed in their course 
through the strata of the earth, so that they have be- 
come medicines rather than poisons, or useless rather 
than noxious. Their presence is not, therefore, of great 
moment, although their absence might be more desir- 
able. Some remarkable examples are cited by thp 
Elvers Pollution Commission. 

Ammonia in almost every quantity is to be deprecated, 
since it is the result of decomposition of animal and 
vegetable substances, and has qualities which are not 
beneficial as food. It is usually found in very minute 
quantities in the best rain and lake waters, but not 
necessarily in the deep-well waters. 

It was not found in the following sources at the time 
the examinations were made for the Rivers Pollution 
Commission. Worthing (old deep well), Bedford (Pillory 
pump), Newcastle-on-Tyne (supply from Whittle Dean), 
Sunderland (deep wells in dolomite), Norwich (from 
'Broads' and artesian well), Colinton Water, Bassen- 
thwaite, Ennerdale, Dublin (Custan's well). Deal (from 
deep well), Zug, Prome, Avon (above Longfords), and 
the water supply of Gloucester and part of Bath, and 
Windsor well, near Liverpool. 

As to the English lakes, it was only O'OOl in 100,000 
parts, in Grassmere and Derwent Water ; 0*002 in Rydal 



WATER. 



285 



Lake and Windermere; 0-004 in Bnttermere, and 
0-007 in Crummock Water. 

There are, however, other sources, where the pro- 
portion is increased a hundred or a thousandfold, and 
such are exclusively those which are contaminated with 
sewage or manufactures' refuse ; so that the Medlock, 
just above its junction with the Irwell, had 1-116 lb. 
in 100,000 lbs. of water. 

Organic matter in other forms is most undesirable, 
since it has not been entirely decomposed into its final 
elements, and is in a state ready to do mischief. Its 
presence in a very minute quantity is tolerably uniform 
in the best drinking waters, and is represented in the 
following table under the two heads of organic carbon 
and organic nitrogen, two of its component parts : — 

No. 113. 
Pounds in 100,000 Ihs. of water. 











Organic Carbon 


Organic Nitrogen 


Buttermere .... 


0-127 


0-040 


Caterliam 








0020 


0006 


Colinton "Water 








0-203 


0042 


Coniston Water 








0085 


0017 


Crawley Burn. 








0-187 


0031 


Crummock 








0-183 


0-55 


Deal . 








0-032 


0022 


Derwent Water 








0-218 


0-043 


Grassmere lake 








0-235 


0-050 


Katrine . 








0-256 


0008 


Manchester . 








0-183 


0009 


Northampton . 








0-168 


. 024 


Otter spring . 








0-026 


0012 


Rivington Pike 








0-243 


0-031 


Royal Mint . 








0-195 


0-025 


Rydal . . 








0-254 


0-043 


' Svvanston 








0-378 


0-059 


Thames at Hamptoi 








0-260 


0024 


' Trafalgar Square 








0-150 


0-012 


1 Tring, deep well 








0-036 


0010 


' Welsh waters . 








0-289 


0004 


Windermere . 








0-299 


0076 


Zug 








0-149 


0-026 


Zurich . . * 








0-92 


0-009 



286 LIQUID FOODS. 

From the preliminary observations of this chapter, it 
may be inferred that, in this proportion of organic 
matter no injurious influence is exerted, and indeed, it 
is rather to be regarded as a normal constituent of 
water. 

But there are sources of water in which the quantity 
7-s extremely great, and from the use of which the most 
important diseases have been known to follow. Such 
are referred to in the following table : — 

No. 114. 
Pounds in 100,000 Ws., or 10,000 gallons, of water. 

Cornbrook, before junction with Irwell 

Darweer, below Blackburn 

Irk, 

Irwell, at Throsle- next-Weir 

Rocli, above Bury 4-518 

On a review of this part of the subject, it appears that 
a knowledge of the quantity of free nitrogen and of 
the nitrates and nitrites is of far less consequence than 
that of the organic nitrogen and ammonia, and hence, 
that the determination of the total nitrogen is not so 
valuable as of that which represents ammonia and 
organic compounds. It is desirable that in any complete 
analysis, each of these sources should be enquired into ; 
but if any part may be omitted, it must be that of the 
free nitrogen and nitrates and nitrites. 

The importance of this part of the subject is so great, 
that it is desirable to refer to the methods of analysis, 
and so far as may be possible, to enable a non-profes- 
sional person to determine approximatively the character 
of the water which he drinks as food. 

The chemical world is now greatly divided in opinion 
as to the proper method of determining the purity of 



Organic 
Carbon 
4-129 


Organic 

Nitrogen 

0-383 


2-127 


0-295 


2-452 


0-352 


2-104 


0-248 


4-518 


0-288 



WATER. 287 

water, and cliemists are generally ranged on two sides 
— one agreeing with Frankland and Armstrong in the 
process which they have devised, and the other pre- 
ferring the process applied by Chapman and Wanklyn 
and Kreaus, or the ammonia process. In the recent 
discussions on this subject, it has appeared that many 
of the practical chemists of the day adopt the latter 
process, and also that they object to the mode adopted 
by Frankland, in expressing the quantity of nitrogenous 
elements in water by the phrase ' previous sewage con- 
tamination,' both as implying that the nitrogenous 
material was necessarily derived from sewage and that 
nitrogenous material originally derived from sewage 
may not have become harmless. 

It is not our purpose to enter into these chemical 
questions further than is necessary to a work on Foods ; 
and we shall now content ourselves with describing 
the methods by which the quantity of the several 
elements may be ascertained. 

It is not necessary to determine the quantity of free 
nitrogen. 

The quantity of nitrates and nitrites is ascertained 
by converting them into ammonia by means of metallic 
aluminium, acting upon them in the cold, and in a 
strongly alkaline solution, and estimating the nitrogen 
from the ammonia. The following is Chapman's modi- 
fication of Schulze's process : — 

' The process is carried out as follows : — 100 c. c. of the 
water are introduced into a non-tubulated retort, and 50 to 70 
c. c. of a solution of caustic soda added. The caustic soda 
must be free from nitrates, and the strength of the 'solution 
should be such that 1 litre contains 100 grm. of caustic soda. 
The contents of the retort are to be distilled until they do 
not exceed 100 c. c, and until no more ammonia comes over ; 
that is, until . the Nessler test is incapable of detecting 



288 LIQUID FOODS. 

ammonia in tlie distillate. The retort is now cooled, and a 
piece of aluminium introduced into it (foil will answer very 
well witli dilute solutions, but we much prefer thin sheet 
aluminium in all cases). The neck of the retort is now in- 
clined a little upwards, and its mouth closed with a cork, 
through which passes the narrow end of a small tube filled 
with broken-up tobacco-pipe, wet either with water, or, better, 
with very dilute hydrochloric acid free from ammonia. This 
tube need not be more than an inch and a-half long, nor larger 
than a goose quill. It is connected with a second tube con- 
taining pumice-stone moistened with strong sulphuric acid. 
This last tube serves to prevent any ammonia from the air 
entering the apparatus, which is allowed to stand in this way , 
for a few hours or over night. The contents of the pipe-clay 
tube are now washed into the retort with a little distilled 
water, and the retort adapted to a condenser, the other end 
of which dips beneath the surface of a little distilled water 
free from ammonia (about 70 to 80 c. c.).* The contents of 
the retort are now distilled to about half their original 
volume ; the distillate is made up to 150 c. c. ; 50 c. c. of 
this are taken out, and the Nessler test added to them. If the 
colour so produced is not too strong, the estimation may be 
made at once ; if it is, the remainder of the distillate must be 
diluted with the requisite quantity of water.' 

Frankland and Armstrong adopt a different process, 
and destroy the nitrates and nitrites by sulphuric acid, 
in the following manner : — 

* Estimation of Nitrogen in the form of Nitrates and Nitrites. — 
The following is the mode in which this process is applied to 
the estimation of nitrogen existing as nitrates and nitrites in 
potable waters : — The solid residue from the half litre of water 
used for determination, No. 1 (estimation of total solid consti- 
tuents) is treated with a small quantity of distilled water ; a 

1 Condensers arc very apt to contain a trace of ammonia if they have 
been standing all night, and must, therefore, be washed out with the utmost 
care. We prefer to distil a little water through them until ammonia can 
be no longer detected in the distillate. 



WATER. 289 

very slight excess of argentic sulphate is added to convert the 
chlorides present into sulphates, and the filtered liquid is 
then concentrated by evaporation in a small beaker, until it 
is reduced in bulk to two or three cubic centimetres. The 
liquid must now be transferred to a glass tube, furnished at 
its upper extremity with a cup and stopcock, previously filled 
with mercury at the mercurial trough, the beaker being rinsed 
out once or twice with a very small volume of recently-boiled 
distilled water, and finally with a pure and concentrated sul- 
phuric acid, in somewhat greater volume than that of the 
concentrated solution and rinsings previously introduced into 
the tube. By a little dexterity it is easy to introduce suc- 
cessively the concentrated liquid, rinsings, and sulphuric acid 
into the tube by means of the cup and stopcock, without the 
admission of any trace of air. Should, however, air inad- 
vertently gain admittance, it is easily removed by depressing 
the tube in the mercury trough, and then momentarily opening 
the stopcock. If this be done within a minute or two after the 
introduction of the sulphuric acid, no fear need be entertained 
of the loss of nitric oxide, as the evolution of this gas does not 
begin until a minute or so after the violent agitation of the 
contents of the tube. 

'The acid mixture being thus introduced, the lower ex- 
tremity of the tube is to be firmly closed by the thumb, and 
the contents violently agitated by a simultaneous vertical and 
lateral movement, in such a manner that there is always an 
unbroken column of mercury, at least an inch long, between 
the acid liquid and the thumb. From the description, this 
manipulation may appear difficult, but in practice it is ex- 
tremely simple, the acid liquid never coming in contact with 
the thumb. In about a minute from the commencement of 
the agitation a strong pressure begins to be felt against the 
thumb of the operator, and the mercury spurts out in minute 
streams, as nitric oxide gas is evolved. The escape of the 
metal should be gently resisted, so as to maintain a con- 
siderable excess of pressure inside the tube, and thus prevent 
the possibility of air gaining access to the interior during the 
shaking. In from three to five minutes the reaction is com- 



290 LIQUID FOODS. 

pleted, and the nitric oxide maj then be transferred to a 
suitable measuring apparatus, where its volume is to be deter- 
mined over mercury. As half a litre of water is used for the 
determination, and as nitric oxide occupies exactly double the 
volume of the nitrogen which it contains, the volume of nitric 
oxide read off expresses the volume of nitrogen existing as 
nitrates and nitrites in one litre of water. From the number 
so obtained the weight of nitrogen in these forms in 100,000 
parts of water is easily calculated.' 

Ammonia is very readily and neatly determined by 
the use of a reagent invented by Nessler, and hence 
called Nessler's test, and the process Nesslerising. The 
reagent causes a brown colouration or deposit when 
ammonia is present. 

This reagent is prepared as follov\rs : — Dissolve thirty- 
five grammes of iodide of potassium in a small quantity 
of distilled water, and add to it a strong watery solution 
of bichloride of mercury (corrosive sublimate), which 
will cause a red precipitate that disappears on shak- 
ing up the mixture. Add the solution of bichloride 
of mercury, carefully shaking up as that liquid is added, 
so as to dissolve the precipitate as fast as it is formed. 
After continuing the addition of the bichloride of mer- 
cury for some time, a point will ultimately be reached 
ut which the precipitate vrill cease to dissolve. 
When the precipitate begins to be insoluble in the 
liquid, stop the addition of the bichloride of mercury, 
niter. Add to the filtrate 120 grammes of caustic 
soda in strong aqueous solution (or about 160 grammes 
of potash). 

After adding the solution of alkali as just described, 
dilute the liquid so as to make its volume equal one 
litre. Add to it about 5 c. c. of a saturated aqueous 
solution of bichloride of mercury, allow to subside, and 
decant the clear liquid. 



WATEE. 291 

As the subject is of great importance, and the use of 
the test not difficult, it seems desirable to extract the 
directions given in Wankljn and Chapman's practical 
treatise on ' Water Analysis.' — 

* Use of tJie Test. — When a small quantity of the reagent is 
added to a solution containing a trace of ammonia, a yellow 
or brown colouration is produced. If more ammonia is present, 
a jprecipitate is formed ; and if ammonia be added to the re- 
agent, a precipitate is almost always obtained. 

In order to use the test quantitatively, the following things 
are required : — 

(1.) Distilled water, free from ammonia. 

(2.) Standard solution of ammonia. 

(3.) A burette to measure the standard ammonia. 

(4.) A pipette for the Nessler reagent. It should deliver 
about 1^ c. c. 

(5.) Glass cylinders that will contain about 160 c. c. ; 
they are graduated at 100 c. c. and at 150 c. c. 
(1.) Distilled water of sufficient purity is generally to 
be obtained when a considerable quantity of water is dis- 
tilled. The first portions of distilled water usually contain 
ammonia. After a while, on continuing the distillation, the 
water usually distils over in a state of tolerable purity, but 
towards the end the ammonia will again appear in the distil- 
late. By collecting the middle portion of the distillate apart 
from the rest, it will usually be easy to obtain distilled water 
of sufficient purity. In order to be available, the distilled 
water should not contain so much as xuo^^^ ^^ ^ milligrm. of 
ammonia in 100 c. c. of water. If there is no opportunity 
of distilling a large quantity of water, and taking the middle 
fraction of the distillate, it may be necessary to re- distil 
distilled water of ordinary quality : the first part of the 
distillate will be ammoniacal ; after that there will be water 
free from ammonia. 

(2.) The standard ammonia should contain y^o^l'- ^^ ^ 
milligrm. of ammonia in one cubic centimetre of water. It is 
made by dissolving 0*03882 grm, of sulphate of ammonia in 



292 LIQUID FOODS. 

a litre of water. If chloride of ammonium be taken, tlie 
quantity of the chloride to be dissolved in a litre of water is 
0'0315 grm. It will be found most convenient in practice 
to keep a solution of ten times this strength (0"3882 grm. 
sulphate of ammonia in a litre of water), and to dilute it 
when required foi use. 

In order to estimate ammonia, fill one of the cylinders 
up to 100 c. c. with the solution to be examined, and add 1^ 
c. c. of Nessler reagent by means of the pipette. Observe 
the colour, and then run as much of the standard solution of 
ammonia as may be judged to correspond to it into another 
cylinder containing distilled water, fill up with water to 100 
c. c, and add IJ c. c. of ISTessler test. Allow the liquids to 
stand for ten minutes. If the colouration is equal, the amount 
of standard ammonia used will represent the ammonia in the 
fluid under examination. If not, another cylinder must be 
filled, employing a different amount of the standard ammonia, 
and this must be repeated until the colours correspond. It 
is very seldom necessary to make more than two such com- 
parative experiments ; and with a little practice, the operation 
of " Nesslerising " will become very easy and rapid. With 
regard to the limits of the readings, it is not difl&cult to 
recognise 4-g-(5-th of a milligrm. of ammonia in 100 c. c. of water, 
and the difference between -j^Q^Q^ths and y^^^ths of a milligrm. 
should be visible. It will be observed that y^th of a milligrm. 
of ammonia will be more visible in 50 c. c. of water than in 
100 c. c. of water ; so that when it is desirable to detect the 
very minutest quantities, concentration of NII3 in a small bulk 
of water is to be recommended. 

"With regard to the superior limit. When the ammonia 
becomes too concentrated, precipitation occurs. Different 
samples of Nessler test will sustain different quantities of 
NH3 without precipitation. 

The presence of a great number of substances in aqueous 
solution containing ammonia will interfere with the indication 
of the Xessler reagent, and it is always desirable to have the 
ammonia in pure distilled water, if that be possible. In order 
to do so, the solution containing the ammonia should be dis- 



WATER. 293 

tilled with a little alkali, and the Nessler reagent applied to 
the distillate. 

If a water contains much carbonic acid, it is desirable to add 
a little potash to the water before adding the Nessler test. 
Thus, in estimating the ammonia in the distillate from soda 
water, too small a number will be obtained, if this precaution 
be neglected. 

When there is a necessity for the use of the !N'essler test 
without previous distillation, a special device has to be 
resorted to in order to get rid of the disturbing influence on 
the Nessler test of the substances dissolved. Thus :'- — 

Take 500 c. c. of water, add a few drops of solution of 
chloride of calcium, then a slight excess of potash. Filter. 
Put it into a retort and distil until the distillate comes over, 
free from ammonia, then make up the contents of the retort 
with distilled water to their original volume, viz., 500 c. c. 
Now take 200 c. c. of the original water, treat it with chloride 
of calcium and potash, as before. Then filter, care being 
taken to have the filter-paper well washed before commencing 
the filtration. In this way two samples of water are obtained, 
the one with the ammonia, as in the original water, and the 
other without the ammonia, but in every other respect the 
same as the former. This second portion of water is to be 
used in the place of distilled water to make the Nessler com- 
parisons ; as both samples contain the same impurities, they 
will affect the tint of the Nessler test in the same manner. 
Thus the eiTor arising from the presence of salts, &c., is 
avoided. 

The following table will be of use in converting observed 
amounts of ammonia into nitrogen or nitric acid : — 

Table shoiving the Amount of Nitrogen and Nitric Acid corre- 
sponding to different Amounts of Ammonia. 

No. 115. 



nia NH, 
1 . 


Nitrogen 
0-89 . 


Nitric Acid HNO, 
3-71 


2 . 

3 . 


1-78 . 

2-67 . 


7-n 

. 11-12 


4 . 


3-56 . 


. H-82 



294 



LIQUII) FOODS. 



Tahle shoiving the Amount of Nitrogen and Nitric Acid corre' 
sjjonding to differe^it Amounts of Ammonia — (^continued.') 



oiaNHa 






Nitrogen 






Nitric Acid HNO^ 


5 . . . 4-44 . . . 18-53 


6 






5-33 . 






22-24 


7 






6-22 






25-94 


8 






7-11 . 






29-65 


9 . 






8-00 . 






33-35 


10 






8-89 






37-06 


11 






9-78 






40-76 


12 






10-67 






44-47 


13 






11-56 






48-18 


14 






12-44 






51-88 


15 






13-33 






55-59 


16 






14-22 






59-29 


17 






15-11 






63-00 


18 






16-00 






. 66-71 


19 






16-89 






. 70-41 


20 






17-78 






74-12 


21 






18-67 






77-82 


22 






19-56 






. 81-53 


23 






. 20-44 






. 85-24 


24 






21-33 






88-94 


25 






22-22 






92-65 


rocn.ni 


o. m 


^ffpi 


' 1 s n nw 


DfAnf 


.rail 


V f1p+,prTYiinp 



the two rival methods. 

Frankland and Armstrong" first destroy the nitrates 
by the aid of sulphate of soda, leaving ammonia and 
organic matter in solution. They then evaporate the 
vpater so treated to dryness in the water-bath, and after- 
wards burn the dry residue with oxide of copper and 
chromate of lead, and collect and estimate the carbonic 
acid and nitrogen. This is a somewhat laborious pro- 
cess, and it is alleged that there are two tendencies to 
error, one in not entirely destroying the nitrates and 
the other in destroying a part of the organic matter, 
and thus that the limit of error is often as large as the 
whole quantity of nitrogen in good drinking water. 

The ammonia process consists in at once converting 
the organic matter into ammonia, and estimating the 



WATER. 295 

nitrogen contained in it ; and it is asserted, that when 
the apparatus is ready the whole determination can be 
made in less than half an hour. 

The following are the details of the method : — 

' Half a litre of water is taken and placed in a tubulated 
retort, and 15 c. c. of a saturated solution of carbonate of soda 
added. The water is then distilled until the distillate begins 
to come over free from ammonia (i.e., until 50 c. c. of distillate 
contain less than y^th of a milligramme of NH3). A solution 
of potash and permanganate of potash is next added. This 
solution is made by dissolving 200 grammes of solid caustic 
potash and 8 grammes of crystallised permanganate of potash 
in a litre of water. The solution is boiled to expel any 
ammonia, and both it and the solution of carbonate of soda 
ought to be tested on a sample of pure water before being used 
in the examination of water. 

50 c. c. of this solution of potash and permanganate should 
be used with half a litre of the water to be tested. 

The distillation is continued until 50 c. c. of distillate con- 
tain less than y^-th milligramme of ammonia. 

Both sets of distillate have the ammonia in them deter- 
mined by means of the N'essler test, as described above. 

No matter how good the water may be, it is desirable never 
to distil over less than 100 c. c. with carbonate of soda, and 
not less than 200 c. c. after the addition of the potash and per- 
manganate of potash. 

It will easily be understood that the greatest cleanliness 
is requisite in carrying out this process. The Liebig's con- 
denser is especially liable to contain traces of ammonia, and 
should be cleaned out immediately before being used. The 
best way of effecting this is by distilling a little water through 
it. In boiling the contents of the retort it is well to use the 
naked flame placed quite close to the retort, so as not to heat 
one spot only. We are in the habit of using a large Bunsen 
burner placed close to the bottom of the retort. Persons who 
are not in the habit of distilling with the naked flame will 
probably find as. argand gas- lamp with a metallic chimney to 
be the more convenient source of heat. 
14 



296 LIQUID FOODS. 

With regard to the retort itself, it should be capable of 
holding about 1,500 c. c. when in position for distillation and 
filled up, so as to run over. The- tubulure should be so situ- 
ated as to admit of the charge being poured in when the 
retort is in situ for distillation. The charge is to be intro- 
duced bj means of a funnel, so as to avoid dirtying or cracking 
the retort. 

Very bad specimens of water may be conveniently 
examined as follows : — 

About 600 c. c. of recently- distilled water are put into the 
retort, and distilled with 15 c. c. of saturated solution of car- 
bonate of soda, until the distillate comes over ammonia free. 
Then 100 c. c. of the very bad specimen of water are added, 
and the operation proceeded with, as has been described. Of 
coulee the values must be multiplied by 10, in order to obtain 
the quantities of ammonia yielded by a litre of the specimen. 

As has been already mentioned, the first portion of 
ammoniacal distillate contains both the free ammonia of the 
water and that obtained from the decomposition of any urea 
that may exist in the water. Usually it is quite unnecessary 
to make any separation of the free ammonia from the ammonia 
present as urea. In the case, however, of very foul water, as, 
for instance, in the Thames water taken at London Bridge, it 
is sometimes worth while to make this distinction. When 
this is desired, a determination of the free ammonia actually 
present in the water must be made. The difference between 
the amount of ammonia evolved by carbonate of soda and the 
ammonia, present as such, is equal to the ammonia obtained 
from the urea.' 

It was formerly the practice to determine the organic 
matter by two other methods, which, may be named. 
One was by taking the solid residue after evaporating* 
the water to dryness, and after having weighed it, sub- 
jected it to great heat, and the loss of weight indicated 
the quantity of orga^nic matter. The other was the use 
of a solution of permanganate of potash, which was 
decolorised in proportion to the quantity of organic 



WATER 297 

matter to which it was exposed. Both have been 
largely employed ; but they are not so accurate as the 
methods above described. 

A careful consideration of this subject shows that the 
real difference in the methods rests upon the value 
which should be attached to the nitrates and nitrites, 
and thence of the whole nitrogen in drinking water, and 
if it will suffice for sanitary purposes and as a food to 
regard only the free ammonia and the combined nitrogen 
in organic or albuminoid compounds, which may also 
be readily converted into ammonia, the analysis is sim- 
plified and the range of the sanitary question lessened. 

There can be no doubt of the fact, that nitrogenous 
compounds may be rendered comparatively or entirely 
harmless, when oxidised and converted into nitrates, 
whether in the soil of the earth, in the tissues of plants, 
or in the laboratory, and that so far ' previous sewage 
contamination ' need not be a cause of alarm, but they 
are valuable as indicating a source of contamination. 
Should they not be altogether oxidised, some portion 
will appear as organic albuminous compounds, which 
may be determined as already indicated, and to them 
should be attached nearly all the importance of the 
subject. 

Hence, regarding a given specimen of water, as fit or 
not fit for food, it will suffice to determine the presence 
or absence of ammonia and organic nitrogen ; but if a 
complete description of the water be desired, it will be 
needful to carry the analysis much further. 

4. Chlorine. 

Chlorine is derived almost entirely from common salt 
or chloride of sodium, and therefore it exists in sea water 
and in all springs containing common salt. Hence, its 



298 LIQUID FOODS. 

presence is not necessarily abnormal ; but if it be not 
due to either of those causes, it is probably derived from 
a contaminating source, as the urine and other excreta 
of animals, which contain common salt. 

Common salt (and therefore chlorine) is required by 
the body and taken largely as food, and hence the pre- 
sence of a proportion in drinking water is not neces- 
sarily injurious, although it may have been derived from 
an impure source. Its presence is, in fact, important 
rather as indicating the probable presence of other 
animal matters already referred to, than any injury 
which it can cause, and if no such animal matters are 
found, the water may be drank with impunity. 

The following shows the quantity of chlorine which 
is present in the more important sources of drinking 
water : — 

No. 116. 

In 100,000 m. lbs. 

Lake of Zurich . . . . . . . . 0"17 

„ Ziig 0-27 

Bala lake 0-70 

The Ehine, above SchafFhausen 0*20 

G-rassmere lake ......... 0'79 

Kydal lake and lies water 0*69 

Windermere 0*99 

Buttermere, Colinton "Water and Crummock Water . . 89 

Ennerdale and Lancaster gathering grounds . . . 099 

Derwent Water and Bassenthwaite 1"29 

Cocker, Derwent and Skiddaw 1*09 

Coniston Water . 1-89 

Thames, at Kew 0-84 

„ „ London Bridge 1-83 

Ehine, at Basle 0-10 

„ „ Bonn 1-01 

Elbe, at Hamburg 2-75 

Kivington Pike l-o3 

Tring Deep well 1-39 

The next table indicates a few sources which must 
be regarded with great suspicion on several grounds. 



WATER. 



299 



No. 117. 
Pounds in 100,000 Ihs. of wafer. 





Nitrogen as 


Total 






Nitrates and 
Nitrites 


Nitrogen 


Chlorin 


Liverpool — Bevington Bush well, 1868 


8-678 


8-721 


12-61 


Soho well, 1868 . 


. 2-195 


2-220 


7-51 


Water Street well . 


. 1-975 


4-989 


7-94 


Congleton— Town pump . 


. 1-076 


1-122 


3 18 


Eochdale— Spring near Churchyard . 


. 1-813 


1-860 


2-98 


Leyland 


2-466 


2-524 




Kidderminster— Shallow well, 1870. 


3069 


3-222 


8-38 


,, Another „ 


. 5 322 


5-378 


8-20 


Leamington — Mr. Jones' well, 1870. 


6-086 


6-111 


14-20 


Durham— Private well . 


6-268 


6-313 


9-75 


Darlington — Blackwell pump . 


6-724 


6-757 


8-45 


Kendal— Shallow well . . . . 


2-465 


3-090 


17-00 


Witney— Well in Wiggin's yard 


4-432 


4-880 


22-90 



The spring in All Saints' Yard, Bristol, already re- 
ferred to, is a most notable instance of pollution from 
sewage contamination, and the following number of 
pounds in 10,000 gallons cannot fail to arrest atten- 
tion when contrasted with those of the Butter mere 
water : — 



Bristol . 
Buttermere 



No. 118. 



Total solids 127-28 
3-56 



Nitrogen 4-745 
0-043 



Chlorine 7-10 
0-89 



Having thus considered the subject in as much detail 
as is necessary for our purpose, it will be convenient to 
append a complete analysis of our best drinking waters, 
with a view to regard them as standards of composi- 
tion, 



300 



LIQUID FOODS. 



No. 119. 
Founds in 100,000 gallons. 







1 


S 












1 ^ 


ii 


1 




i 




1 


Car 

Nit: 


2 ~i 


S o 


i 






i 


.9, 


•1 


i 
1 


a3 '3 

O cS 


o ^ 


1 


5 




H 


O 


o 


< 


S 


H 


o 


H 


Bassenthwaite 


4-64 


•154 


•037 


•0 


•0 


•037 


r29 


2-83 


Buttermere . 


3-56 


-127 


•040 


•004 


•0 


•043 


•89 


roi 


Cocker . 


4-62 


•069 


•022 


•001 


•0 


•023 


1-09 


2^15 


Crawley Burn 


11-28 


•187 


•031 


001 


■0 


•032 


1^04 


6-08 


Crummock ^ 

Water . j 

Derwentwater 


4-OG 


•183 


•055 


•007 


•0 


•061 


•89 


1^30 


6-56 


•218 


•043 


-001 


•0 


•044 


r29 


1^74 


Dervvent 


6-0 


•219 


•041 


•004 


•0 


•044 


ro9 


3-37 


Ennerdale . 


2-16 


•042 


■017 


•0 


•0 


■017 


•99 


r45 


Grassmere . 


4-18 


•235 


•05 


•001 


•0 


•051 


•79 


2-70 


Kent . 


6-48 


•149 


•020 


-0 


•044 


■064 


•90 


3-90 


Rhine . 


15-80 


•108 


•012 


•003 


•0 


•015 


•20 


10-76 hard water 


Rivington 1 
Pike . / 


8-48 


•243 


•031 


•004 


•0 


•034 


r53 


3-72 


Rydal . 


4-44 


•254 


•043 


■002 


•0 


•045 


•69 


310 


Severn, 1 


















above > 


6-60 


•123 


•016 


■003 


■010 


•028 


1^35 


3^09 


Newtown J 


















Skiddaw 


4-34 


•132 


•024 


■001 


-0 


•025 


1^09 


3^37 


Swanston 1 
Water . / 


12-70 


•378 


•059 


•001 


■0 


•060 


r39 


6^22 


Windermere. 


6-78 


•299 


•076 


•002 


•018 


•096 


•99 


4-04 


Zug 


13-20 


•149 


•026 


•0 


trace 


•026 


•27 


9-03 hard water 


Zurich . 


14-30 


•092 


•009 


•002 


•0 


•Oil 


•17 


10-61 hard water 



L 

There are other very extensive sources of contamina- 
tion of drinking waters to which it is necessary to refer for 
a moment, viz., that resulting from throwing the refuse 
of manufactures into rivers, including such important 
metals as arsenic, and colouring matters to the extent of 
rendering the water such as might be used for writing 
purposes. It is not requisite that we should enter into 
details ; but it will be interesting to cite one, not an 
extreme, instance, as showing the difference of compo- 



WATEE. 801 

sitioii ill water above and below the source of impurity, 
and thereby the extent of the contamination : — 

' Tho river Irvvell, at its source, held in 10,000 gallons 
7-80 lbs. of solid matter, OdS? lb. and 0*025 lb. of organic 
carbon and nitrogen, 0'049 lb. total nitrogen, 1'15 lb. of 
chlorine, and 3 '72 degrees of hardness ; whilst below Man- 
chester these numbers were increased to, solid matter, 
55*80 lbs.; organic carbon, 1*173 lb.; organic nitrogen, 
0-332 lb.; total nitrogen, 1-648 lb.; chlorine, 9*63 lbs.; and 
total hardness, 22*92 lbs.' 

The examination by the Rivers Pollution Commission 
of fifteen samples of waters contaminated by the cotton 
and woollen mills in Yorkshire showed the following 
quantities of material in 100,000 lbs. of water, which 
were thrown into the rivers : — 



Total solid matters . . 337 

Organic Carbon . . 64*783 

Organic Nitrogen . . 10"384 

Ammonia .... 11 '647 
Nitrogen as Nitrates and 

Nitrites . . . 0-041 



No. 120. 

Total combined Nitrogen . 20-015 

Metallic Arsenic . . O'Oll 

Chlorine . . . .21-94 

Mineral matters . . 474-84 



They also give a page in their Eeport of 1871, showing 
in facsimile a letter written with the water of the river 
Calder at Wakefield, which equals in depth of colour 
that from a watered ink, and similar examples might 
have been made from the river at Bradford. 

It is, perhaps, scarcely necessary to add that a propor- 
tion of the solid contents of such waters, as well as of 
waters in their natural state, is not in solution but 
suspension ; and that, with perfect quietude of the mass 
of water, the latter portion will in due time subside, 
and may be removed. 

It is, however, possible to aid the process of clarifi- 
cation of waters by the addition of a substance which 



302 LIQUID foods'. 

will cause the suspended particles to attach themselves 
to it. Thus the deliciously soft waters of the Missouri as 
they enter the Mississippi contain much sand in suspen- 
sion, and by the addition of raw eggs, well stirred in 
a hogshead of water, the whole will be deposited in 
the course of twelve hours, and the water become clear 
and bright. The addition of alum, chips of wood, 
bitter almonds, nuts of strychnia, and various other 
substances, exert the same influence over certain kinds 
of water. 

Before taking leave of this part of our subject, it is 
deskable to quote the instructions which have been 
given for the examination of driu king- waters, by two 
very competent authorities. 

The Elvers Pollution Commission have laid down the 
following particulars for enquiry into the quality of 
potable waters, and have framed their Tables upon 
them : — 

' 1. Organic carbon 1 , , , . , 

o 'f (T I ^^^^ ^^® ^^ organic substance. 

3. Ammonia. 

4. Nitrogen in combination with oxygen, as in nitric and 

nitrous acids. 

5. The total combined nitrogen. 

6. Chlorine. 

7. Hardening constituents.' 

The same Commission, in a review of the subject in 
1870, arrived at the folio Aving conclusions, and consider 
any liquid as unfit to enter a stream which has the 
following characteristics in 10,000 gallons : — 

* 1. Containing in suspension more than 3 parts by weight of 
dry mineral water, or 1 part by weight of dry organic 
matter. 



WATER. 303 

2. Containing in solution more than 2 parts by weight of 

organic carbon, or 0'3 part by weight of organic 
nitrogen. 

3. Which shall exhibit by daylight a distinct colour, when 

a stratum of it one inch deep is placed in a white porce- 
lain or earthenware vessel. 

4. Containing in solution more than 2 parts by weight of 

any metal, except calcium, magnesium, potassium, 
and sodium. 

5. Containing, whether in solution or suspension, in chemical 

combination or otherwise, more than 0'05 part of 
metallic arsenic. 

6. Containing, after acidification with sulphuric acid, more 

than one part by weight of pure chlorine. 

7. Containing more than one part by weight of sulphur in 

the condition either of sulphureted hydrogen or of a 
soluble sulphuret. 

8. Possessing an acidity greater than that which is produced 

by adding two parts by weight of real muriatic acid to 
1,000 parts of distilled water. 

9. Possessing an alkalinity greater than that produced by 

adding one part by weight of dry caustic soda to 1,000 
parts by weight of distilled water.' 

Messrs. Wanklyn and Chapman in their work, 
already referred to, devote a chapter to this part of the 
subject; and, as the directions are short and clear, 
we shall, with their permission, quote it entire : — 

* Examine the water as to clearness. This is best done by 
filling a good-sized flask, 1,200-1,500 c. c. capacity, with the 
water. The flask is now to be held in front of a dark-coloured 
or black wall, a strong light falling on the flask from one side 
or from above. Any small particles floating in the water will 
now become readily visible. Care must be taken not to con- 
found minute bubbles of air with suspended matter. 

The colour of the water should also be noted. It is best 
seen by placing the flask containing the water on a sheet of 



804 LIQUID FOODS. 

white paper, and placing by its side a similar flask filled with 
pure distilled water. The two €asks should stand in good 
diffused daylight. Very minute shades of colour can be seen 
in this way, and as the glass of which flasks are made is very 
thin, and but very slightly coloured, we are not liable to mis- 
take the colour of the vessel for that of the water. Dr. 
Letheby recommends the use of a long cylinder for the purpose 
of ascertaining the colour, and if such a cylinder of clear thin 
colourless glass can be obtained, it is a very good plan. 
Unfortunately, however, most cylinders are made of thick 
glass, with a decided purplish or green colour. Such vessels 
are very liable to mislead. 

Should the water contain much suspended matter, or be 
very dark in colour, it may, we think, be said to be unfit for 
drinking purposes in its then state, though filtration may 
render it quite good. 

Observe the smell of the water. This is best done by 
shaking up some of the water in a flask with a short and wide 
neck about one-third full, and then inhaling the air in the 
upper part of the flask. Should it smell disagreeable in any 
high degree, the water may be said to be unfit to drink. 

N^ow warm the water slightly and smell again. Warming 
will often bring out the smell of a water when none could be 
detected in the cold. 

Now add a little caustic potash to the warm water ; should 
this cause any unjDleasant smell, we may be pretty sure that 
the water contains organic matter in some quantity. Notice 
if a precipitate occurs on the addition of the potash ; if so, 
whether much or little, whether coloured or white. The 
occurrence of a precipitate indicates hardness ; the colour may 
either be caused by organic colouring matter in the water, or 
by iron. 

Add Nessler test to about 100 c. c. of this water, either 
in a cylinder or small flask. Should this produce a yellow 
or brown colour, or a brown precipitate, the water contains 
ammoniacal salts. This is a most suspicious circumstance, and 
is almost enough in itself to condemn the water for drinking 
purposes. 

Add iodide of potassium, acetic acid, and starch paste to 



WATER • 305 

100 c. c. of the water. A blue colour indicates nitrites ; this 
also is a most suspicious circumstance, and should the colour 
be at all deep, the water can hardly be fit to drink. It is to 
be noted that inasmuch as iodide of potassium often contains 
iodate, the acetic acid starch and iodide should be mixed 
before adding them to the water, so as to make sure that the 
colour is really produced by the water, and not by any iodate 
that the reagent may contain. 

Boil about 100 c. c. of this water in a flask with a few drops 
of sulphuric acid, remove from the source of heat, and add 
sulphureted hydrogen water. Should a brown or black 
colouration be produced, the presence of lead or copper may 
be inferred, and the water condemned (bismuth, mercury, and 
silver, would of course give the same reaction, but are hardly 
likely to be present). Should no colour be detected, add a 
little ammonia or potash. Should this produce a blackish 
precipitate, iron is almost sure to be present. 

Boil a little of the water for a few moments with red litmus. 
Should the litmus not turn blue, repeat the operation with 
blue litmus. We learn from this whether the water has an 
alkaline or an acid reaotion. This observation is seldom of 
importance, except when the water comes from a manufacturing 
district ; it is then often of the greatest value. 

The preliminary examination described above takes up a 
very short time, and gives us much information. It does not 
require more than 500 c. c. of water, and may be conducted 
with less. The water used in the examination for clearness; 
colour, &c., is not reckoned, because it can be employed after- 
wards in other parts of the analysis. 

We may here remark, that if a water contains suspended 
matter, it should, in our opinion, be analysed with that sus- 
pended matter in it. If the nature and quantity of the 
suspended matter be required, the water should be examined 
both beforQ and after filtration. The difference between the 
two results is the value for the suspended matter. This 
double examination extends only to the total solid residue and 
the organic matter. The nitric acid and chlorine will not be 
affected by the suspended matter. A slight difference will 



306 LIQUID FOODS. 

sometimes be found between the hardness before and after 
filtration, but it is not of sufficient moment to render a second 
determination requisite.' 

In selecting water, where selection is practicable, h 
is desirable that it should be clear and bright, without 
smell or disagreeable taste, cool and soft, and of smooth 
and soft flavour, but the latter quality will necessarily 
vary with the nature of the soil or rock from which 
the water is obtained. 

As a rule, there is an unpleasant smell and not un- 
frequently an unpleasant taste from water contaminated 
with animal matter, either when first drawn from the 
well or after having been set aside for a time, and such 
should never be drank. It is, moreover, not unfrequently 
turbid, or leaves a deposit more or less slight, after 
having been left at rest ; but sometimes water suf- 
ficiently impure to induce disease may have none of 
these characteristics. 

Turbid water, if from a brook ma^^ be harmless, since 
the turbidity may be due only to soil or sand with which 
it is mixed, and which may entirely subside ; but all 
turbid water should be regarded as suspicious, either in 
reference to healthfulness or hardness. Turbid water 
from wells almost always imi^lies contamination. 

Unfiltered water may also contain animalcules or the 
lower forms of vegetable life, and particularly, if it have 
been derived from a watershed or allowed to remain 
without much motion in uncovered tanks. Such addi- 
tions are extremely rare in deep-well water, and very 
frequent in pools. It must not be inferred that 
such is necessarily injurious, since it is a question 
of degree, and their importance is rather in indicating 
the other conditions of the water in which they were 
generated, or to which they were simply added. A state 
of water which could engender such organisms must, 



WATER. 307 

either be comparativelj stagnant or fed by animal im- 
purities, and may therefore be hurtful, whilst water 
into which they have accidentally gained access may be 
otherwise pure. 

It is, of course desirable, that all such impurities 
should be extracted by filtration, or rendered harmless 
by boiling, and it may be laid down as a general rule, 
that whilst no kind of water is injured by filtration, 
otherwise than by the absorption of the enclosed air, 
nearly all may possess substances which might advanta- 
geously be removed by that process. 

Wherever there is reasonable ground to believe that 
the water is impure from animal matters, and where 
the water has a disagreeable smell and taste, it is de- 
sirable that it should be boiled, and if possible, filtered 
before being used as drinking water. 

There are two. objects to be attained in filtering water, 
viz., to remove any gases upon which a disagreeable 
smell may depend, and to arrest any particles of matter 
which may be suspended in the water, viz., to deodorise 
and clarify the water. A third object is attained by 
some filters, as for example that of Med lock's, in which 
it is sought to decompose the animal matter by the 
presence of iron. 

Filters of sand were formerly in common use, and 
are still employed when the filtering works are on a 
great scale, and such may aerate or clarify water 
and remove all organisms. Sand is not, however, a 
deodoriser or a bleacher, since it does not absorb gases, 
and therefore the use of charcoal has been preferred on 
good grounds. Animal charcoal is to be preferred to 
vegetable charcoal, since it will absorb a very much 
larger volume of gas and destroy animal matter. 

The varieties of filters are very great, and many are 
nearly equal in value, but those of Lipscombe and the 



80S LIQUID FOODS. 

London and General Water Purifying Company (No. 121) 
may be specially commended. It is, however, necessary 
to restore the purifying power of filters from time to time, 
and this may be effected in the following manner: — Take 
two wine-glasses full of Condy's crimson fluid undiluted, 
with ten drops of sulphuric acid and a tablespoonful of 
pure muriatic acid, and add them to from two to four 
gaUons of water. Then place the whole in the filter for 
a few hours, after which pass three gallons of pure soft 
water through. Charcoal should be renewed. 

Foulness of tanks is a very common source of foul- 
ness of water, both from materials thrown into them, 
particles of solid matter deposited from the atmosphere, 
and deposits from the water which may ultimately fer- 
ment. An instance was recorded by us many years 
ago, in which a very violent type of scarlet fever was 
associated with drinking water from a tank in which 
herrings in a state of decomposition were found. A 
disagreeable taste and smell in tank water is daily 
traced to the ordinary deposits in the tank. 

It is essential that the tank be covered, and cleaned 
out at intervals varying from three to twelve months, 
according to the character of the water supplied; but 
in addition to this, it is very desirable that a tank filter, 
such as that of the London and General Water Purify- 
ing Company, be so placed in the tank that all the 
water used for drinking may pass through it. 

The practice of taking drinking water from a tank 
which supplies a watercloset is very reprehensible, 
since gases pass through the trap between the closet 
and the tank. Such water will soon give a disagreeable 
flavour or odour, and may induce typhoid fever or other 
serious disease. Steps should be taken by sanitary au- 
thorities to supply special tanks to the waterclosets. 



WATEE. 309 

No. 121. — Cistern Charcoal Filteje. 




MiNEEAL Waters. 
The subject of mineral waters scarcely falls within 
the scope of this work, since they act rather as medi- 
cines than foods ; but certain of them are refreshing 
and agreeable beverages. Those which are most com- 
monly associated with food are soda water, seltzer 
water, and Vichy water, all of which may be factitious, 
but the two latter may be natural. They are all highly 
charged with carbonic acid gas, and emit it more or 
less freely when the cork is removed from the bottle. 

The following table extracted from Watt's ' Dictionary 
of Chemistry,' shows the chemical composition of the 
best-known springs, and may be useful both to the 
healthy and the invalid. 



310 



LIQUID FOODS. 



.VflWK of Spring 

Elevation above sea level. 

Temp. cent. . 

Sp. Gr 

Soiid contents, parts in 1 
one million parts . J 

Calcium .... 

Bavium .... 

Strontium 

Magnesiuni 

Sodium .... 

K 

Li 

NH* 

Al 




a> to 
6S 




a 


fcD 

1 


.2 

- i 


I 


a 

1 


1 


Pints 
Caire 

5160 
117-1 

1-7 
64-2 
1814 
162-7 


Par 

81° 

943 
18-4 

4- 
319-2 
trace 


Joseph's 
quelle 

5081 
159-7 

•5 
44-5 
1686-7 
101-4 


Kessel- 
brunnen 

46° 
1-0034 

2781 

59-4 

•3 

•6 
29-3 
1122-9 
34-7 

trace 

1-6 

•2 
952 
38-7 

487 

Al 
•2 

53-9 

98* 
•4 


3298 
130 

64-4 
1156-6 

6-5 

1573 

14-7 

Na 
•9 

11-3 
1348 


Stein, 
bad 

44° 
1-00065 

626 

25-9 

11- 

195-2 

•4 

2-1 

262 

48-5 

33-5 

Na 
1-9 

41-9 


Pon- 
toon 

1000 

563 
51-3 

41-7 

66- 

■ 4-6 

1-1 

23-2 

3-2 
265 
9- 

35-5 

1-8 
60-5 

744 


1100 
14° 

3977 
289-7 

6-4 

239-8 
954-5 

1667 
75-2 

621-6 
122 


.. 

2353 
go 

915 

241-8 

7-4 

•• 


Iron ..... 

Mn 

CO') 

son . . . . 

Sulphurous Acid 
Fluorine .... 
Chlorine .... 
Bromine .... 
Iodine .... 
Sulphur .... 

NO' .... . 

PO* 

BO' 

SiO^ 

Arsenious Acid 
Organic .... 
Carbonic Acid . -| 
Nitrogen . . -go 

Oxygen .. . J-J'^ 

Sulphureted Hy- o ^ 
drogen . . -' 


2- 

trace 
2415 
196-8 

324-8 

16-7 

trace 
68 
1 

445 


368-4 
22- 

85-2 


•7 

2030 
769-7 

227-9 

3-8 
46-2 

305 


319 

378-3 
39-6 

•:• 

.. 

•• 
•• 

72-1 
406 



The above was analysed by :— ^ Bouquet, ' Chevalier. 
« Berzelius. ' Struve. * Jung. ' 



' Struve. * Struve. 
Meissner. 



Blschof. 



WATER. 



811 



122. 



2 

1 


II 


a 




2 

1 

i 


1 


2 


5 
^ 


a 


1 


1 


« 

< 


t 


•• 


•• 


Sprudel 




• • 


.. 


.. 


King's 
bath 


Royal 
well 


Kessel- 
brunnen 


.. 


Kaiser 
queUe 


Old sul- 
phur 
well 


2116 




1170 






., 


., 


.. 




.. 


800 


.. 




45° 


360 


74° 








16° 




14° 


68° 


15° 


.. 


9° 


1-0044 




1-00497 






.. 


.. 


• • 


1-0064 


.. 




.. 


1-01113 


252 


295 


5455 


32771 


23285 


16406 


2685 


2062 


8174 


8262 


3658 


4101 


15478 


48-4 


57-3 


125 


139-6 


385-8 


722-9 


588-0 


386-7 


179-5 


363-2 


113-9 
•1 

1-4 


63-4 


493-6 


.. 




•5 






.. 


1-2 




;; 




■ * 


• • 


10-3 


lG-8 


50-3 


3319 


2813 


•29; 8 


119-1 


53-9 


8-1 


54-8 


51-2 


14-7 


198-7 


24- 


10-5 


1793 


5222 


1974 




90-4 


160 


2701 


2687 


1233 


1419 


4940 


•3 




.. 


344- 


239-6 


.. 


1-9 


29-8 


.. 


79-4 


47-8 


69-5 


479-7 


I 


20-9 


trace 




•• 


•• 


-2 
trace 






5-6 
trace 


trace 
trace 




•• 


•3 


•• 


1-7 
•4 




Mil) 

Fe 24-9 

Co^ 


-- 


30-2 
2-9 


7-4 


4-1 


2-6 
-3 


trace 
trace 


4-5 


•• 


85-9 


96-9 


1028 


656-2 


463-7 


904 


534-7 


86-9 


639-5 


261-5 


753-8 


503-2 


104-8 


24-1 


32-4 


1749 
1-5 


21154 


14273 


11568 


1138 


1029 


2259 


63-7 


28-4 
1-5 


276-1 


18-2 


40-5 


29-4 


C30 

Al.Ca 
•4 


1913 

Ca 
-3 


211-1 

trace 

4-3 

2746 


292 


108-4 

Al 
1-8 


265-3 


2066 
23-2 

Fe 
2-6 


4687 

Ca 

•4 


13SS 

Ca. Al 
-4 


1601 
2-7 
•4 
3-9 


9187 
87-7 


18-2 


13- 


75-1 
9-1 


22-9 


4-7 


•• 


65-5 


42-6 


14-5 

240-7 


60-4 


39-2 


66- 


3-4 


38 


35- 
13- 


1100 


69 


200 


•• 


1680 


91-6 


125 


197 


1087 


75-2 
168 


80-3 

10-6 

C^H* 
21-3 


trace 


.. 




.. 


.. 


.. 


.. 


.. 


.. 




.. 


1-2 


lS-6 








— t 








1 











Pagenstecher. " Graf. " Berzelius. " 
' lierck and Galloway. " Abel and Rowney. 



Striive. •* Beraelius. >= Nauman. »« Struve. 
'^ Fresenius. -" Struve. " Liebig. *• Hofmann. 



312 LIQUID FOODS. 

CHAPTEE XXXrV. 

MILK, CREAM, BUTTER-MILK, AND WHEY. 

Milk. 

This is one of the most important foods wliicli nature 
has supplied for the use of man, since it contains all 
the elements of nutrition within itself, and in the 
most digestible form, and it is so widely provided that 
wherever the mammalia are propagated it may be 
obtained by their young if not by man. 

Whilst there are certain variations in the composition 
and character of milk, according to the animal and its 
food, they are limited in degree, and it is scarcely 
incorrect when speaking in a general manner to say 
that milk has always the same qualities. Thus, what- 
ever may be the source, milk contains in its natural 
state a nitrogenous element, as casein, carbonaceous 
elements as fat and sugar, acids and salts. 

Cow's milk, whether the ordinary cow of Europe 
or the bison of India, is that best known to the 
world, inasmuch as the cow can be kept and propagated 
more readily and economically than any other animal 
in relation to its meat and milk-producing qualities ; 
and hence it is taken as a standard of comparison, but 
it differs from human, goat's and asses' milk, as well as 
from the milk of other animals, in the proportion of its 
casein, fat, sugar, salts and water. 

The milk of the cow is not, however, of uniform 
quality. Certain kinds, as the Alderney, give a very 
large proportion of butter and but little milk, whilst 
some yield much milk, others a large proportion o:* 
casein or cheese, and others, still an unusual proportion o.* 
water. Moreover, soon after calving the milk is un- 
usually rich in colostrum, whilst when the cow is again 



MILK, CREAM, BQTTER-MILK, AND WHEY. 813 

m calf the milk becomes poorer in casein as in all its 
solid constituents. The kind and quantity of food also 
greatly influence the quality of milk, so that with good 
dry food the milk is relatively richer in solids, whilst 
with good grass it abounds in fat. Artificial feeding 
is also important for oil cake will cause a yield of far 
more solids then when grains from wort are supplied, 
and a penalty is inflicted in Boston for the sale of 
milk of cows fed on the latter. 

The test of quality is commonly the proportion of 
cream, since butter is the product most appreciated by 
consumers. As cream is lighter than water the more 
cream the less is the specific gravity of the milk, other 
constituents being the same, and it is estimated by a 
specific gravity bulb. But in truth the other consti- 
tuents are equally valuable as food, and the advantage 
of the test is not in reference to milk in its natural 
state, but to show whether a given specimen of milk has 
been robbed of a part of its cream. It is rather a test 
as to a particular fraud, than of natural quality. 

The average proportion of cream is 10 to 12 per cent., 
and it is the practice with very large consumers to agree 
with the milk-dealers as to the standard to be adopted. 
At the Liverpool Workhouse they adopt a standard of 10 
per cent, and pay ^d. per gallon for each degree in excess, 
and deduct the like amount for each degree in defect. 

As the composition of cow's milk cannot be always 
the same, the recorded analyses differ greatly, and it is 
not possible to do more here than give the analysis of 
an average specimen, as follows, in 100 parts : — 

No. 123. 
New milk. . Water 86 Nitrogenous 5*5 Sugar 3-8 Eat 3-6 Salts 0-66 
Skimmed milk „ 88 „ 4*0 „ 3-8 „ 1-8 „ 0-8 

The real difierence between skimmed milk and new 



314 LIQUID FOODS. 

milk is in the removal of nearly all the cream from the 
former, and it is needless refinement to give any other 
variation in the analysis than such as results from that 
condition. But a further change takes place vrith time, 
for chemical actions proceed rapidly in milk, and a por- 
tion of the sugar becoming transformed into lactic and 
other acids so far lessens its nutritive value. There 
is, however, a practical error in the usually-received 
opinion, as to the value of skimmed milk, for many deem 
it of little value even to the poor, much less for use in 
their own houses. When, however, it is considered 
that the addition of ^ oz. or J oz. of fat, as suet, to a 
pint of skimmed milk renders it equal in nutritive value 
to new milk, such an opinion cannot be sustained. It is 
a mistake on the part of the housewife to decline to use 
it with such an addition in her puddings, whilst for the 
poor, to whom economy is important, and the remaining 
constituents of the milk of the utmost value to their child- 
ren, every encouragement to its use should be offered, 
and particularly when new milk cannot be obtained. 

There are in good new milk 546 grains of carbon and 
43| grains of nitrogen in the imperial pint, whilst in 
good skimmed milk the quantities are 437 and 43| 
grains. If the free hydrogen be reckoned as carbon, 
the two quantities of carbon mentioned become 644 and 
493 grains. (Lawes and Gilbert). 

The effect in my experiments (No. 124) of eating one 
pint of good cow's new milk was to give a maximum 
increase of 2*26 grains of carbonic acid per minute 
in the exposed air, with a maximum increase of 96 
cubic inches in the volume of air inspired. The rate of 
pulsation was also increased. 

The maximum effect of the same quantity of skimmed 
milk was an increase of '84 grain of carbonic acid in 
the expired air, and 21 cubic inches in the inspired air. 



Page 314. 

1 

Milk 

14- 15 16 17 
iQCQ Mik/JiM Mfk Cream/ Cdsan/ 

AJ£SJpV3 Jani3. JJLJbwZZ. jIM.JbnftO. AM 
M. a 61 S"^ - Lies' 

.:..-__ -7-9.5°- 10-- ens'- 


Series. 

16 19 20 21 

aJcaW , 40\ • ^250grs. iS^oAm^ 
.Juju,l4. Jojvtl. AMJuAt/JZ. JLM.JuM.lS. 

7/1-:-: -:v3if-:-: :::jrz:^.^.i ::::ji^r::.. 

29'. Svk 2.9^€ou.. . 


j!ad.ifa2> >«- 1 1 \i\i ' \ 1 I 1 1 '. \ \ \i\i-i , 


' I l-'i-'l-' i ■ ili'i 1 ' i 1 f ^ ■ ' ! I'l/!' 




M bWm s i^Um 3 1 W|te' 4.\n'aiM oaa 6i9ix ^^^c-Joi a 






^ ^% ~~^ -■::._ ■T..lul_ 4- - 


"i^i:4:f3^:::tF+""+::: 


~^:At=±ti±^i::±:+r4:: 






: i ■ 


^ 1 


1 " ' • 1 


"t~' ' 1 V A 




i -H t;- - ■ H. >■;: -- 


1 ^ jf 




^ 'v/ . p, .L\. A . 


1 s \ " ' "' 




jS , /* A *"■ i ^ ;] 1 


:3-j ikEEiu ^ tz^i-j "1 '„ ' 


! "I, ; 1 n r ' y"- -. '' >\ \ 


1 lw-^-t \ 1 y ^ ' V 


Boaia '] l\ 1 "" / ■' Sr^ ? ' &r-^ 




j?>!-»f-«g m^ \y' ^^^ ■ ^- ^ ^ - r^ '^ -^ "^^ - 


~^' — V^"^M — V/btf ^ — ^^ ^^~{ — ^ " 


# F-^f P. L|f1^ \y\ \ >i fir TN 


^ K /'■ /sife.w 


tf . - ^ ^T" \/ ^ t 


p ^^ y T 


""'?.■ 






., , I . 1 . ,. 












i ^ 


J)«*hoP"«/™ 


i ^ \ 


l^iwi _^ ^_ _l^_ 


i > h 






;j^^i^i4:---:f ---74^14^4* 


-u^=.--4--^-t--X^^;:=^ _^i_^_ 




t^ ri'i^-^^-'Si! — ^-^^f #-^-^ 


U€20 3uhu-7' ' 6iS^ 7\. - - '^S^Soif ' _! l 




T 1 1 1 3521 7 silSCi^ 1 


1 ; ' 1 1 1 i ' 


1 1 i 1 


i 111 ! 


Air mEvnsfwr i -. ... . \ \ 1 i .... 1 ; 


J ^-1 U._L_px_ 1| i 1 I. 


fiSta&^lS ^ H 1 i ' 


.. _.. _,_ .. 1 i 1 


^'^ .1 ! 1 


— ^-1 - -1 1 


■ - „. ■ ]T~^.. ^"^.. .___iz. " rr 


111 . - - ±x 


^ ■ \\ 




^ " / \ 1 1 ! ■ 


1 ! , ~T... . :_±" 




..±:^ zr_. It - _. 


^"i:::--:::it'=f "="=S- 


-_|-| {4. 1 








i r 


en <'\ *■ 1 






.. ,, 1 - ^ 


«) V- j 1 1 


--4- ^ J 


-. -^ J -.- - - a.--- '\-, u 


± :± :t-.-\ ~- 




ji^^MPl 


^^^pp 


[iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiihiH 



^i 



MILK, CREAM, BUTTER-MILK, AND WflEY. 315 



Hence the effect within three hours of new milk is 
much greater, and of skim milk equal to, that of flesh. 

The lactic acid in milk is not by any means without 
importance, for it is readily converted into carbonic 
acid, and the effect upon me of taking the proportion 
which is found in one pint of skim milk, was to increase 
the carbonic acid evolved by -42, and on another person 
to -8 grain per minute. (No. 124.) 

The effect of 250 grains of milk-sugar dissolved in 
10 oz. of hot water was to give a maximum increase of 
1*62 grain of carbonic acid per minute, whilst the 
volume of the air inspired was increased by 24 cubic 
inches per minute. (No. 124.) 

There is no milk which is so agreeable and so little 
disagreeable to the taste as cow's milk, for it has a fuller 
flavour than human milk, or that of the mare or ass, 
whilst it lacks the strong flavour of the milk of the buf- 
falo or goat, and is not so surfeiting as that of the sheep. 
Some of these peculiarities in other kinds of milk depend 
upon the quantity of a nutritive material which may be 
readily determined ; but others, as the flavour of goat's 
and buffalo's milk, depend upon an acid which is not so 
easily measured and is not nutritious. 

The following is the chemical composition of several 
kinds of milk : — ■ 

No. 125. 











Casein 






' 










and 










Sp. Gr. 
+ 1,000 


Water 


Solids 


Nitro- 
genous 
com- 


Sugar 


Fat 


Salts 


Goat , 








pounds 








33-53 


84-49 


15-51 


3-51 


3-69 


5-68 


0-61 


Sheep . 


40-98 


83-23 


16-77 


697 


394 


5-13 


0-71 ! 


Buffalo . 
















Mare . 


33-74 


90-43 


9-57 


3-33 


3-27 


2-43 


0-52 


Ass . . . 


31-57 


89 


10-99 


3-56 


5-05 


1-85 


0-54 


Woman . , 


32-67 


88-9 


10-92 


3-92 


4-36 


2-66 


0-13 


Cow . 


33-38 


86-4 


13-59 


5-52 


3-8 


3-61 


0-66 



816 LIQUID FOODS. 

The salts in milk are as follows, per cent. :- 

No. 126. 



Phospha+e of lime 


, 0-3 


Chloride of potassium. 


. 0-17 


„ „ magnesium 


. 006 


„ sodium 


. 0-03 


„ iron 


. 0007 


Free soda . 


. 004 



As milk is so essential a food for infants, and particu- 
larly wlien the mother's milk cannot be obtained, it is 
desirable to prepare a kind which may resemble the 
latter in composition. 

Cow's milk differs from human milk chiefly in having 
a larger proportion of fat and casein and a less propor- 
tion of sugar. If therefore a mixture be made of two- 
thirds of cow's milk and one- third of warm water, to 
which half an ounce of sugar of milk be added to the 
pint, we shall obtain a composition very similar to 
that of the mother's milk. If sugar of milk be not 
obtainable, it may be substituted by somewhat more 
than half the quantity of refined cane sugar. 

Asses' milk differs from human milk chiefly in having 
more sugar and less fat, so that whilst it is not equal to 
human milk as a nutrient it is the best natural substi- 
tute for it, but its use is recommended rather in cases 
of disease than of health, when it is desirable to modify 
the composition of the mother's milk. Equal parts of 
asses' milk and cow's milk approach closely in composi- 
tion to human milk. 

The effect of insufficient food on the quantity and 
constituents of milk is shown in a very interesting en- 
quiry which Dr. De Caisne, made on 43 nursing women 
during the late siege of Paris, and communicated to 
the Academie des Sciences. He divided the women 
into three classes, according to the quantity of milk, 
and its effect upon the children is detailed in per-centage 
quantities in the following table : — 



MILK. CREAM, BUTTER-MILK, AND WHEY. 



317 



No. 127. 
Butter 



Much milk, Children 

thrive 
Women get thin 

Little and bad milk 
Children hdd diarrhoea 

Scarcely any milk 
Children died 



Fasting 
Well fed 

Fasting 
Well fed 

Fasting 
Well fed 



3-10 

4-16 

2 90 
5 •12 

2-95 
4-10 



Casein Albumen 
0-2i 2-20 
105 1-15 



0-18 
1-15 

0-31 
1-90 



1-95 
0-95 

2-35 
1-75 



Salts 

0-20 

030 

0-16 
0-25 

0-31 
0-31 



Sugar 

624 

712 

7-05 
70o 

590 
5-95 



Cow's milk is especially rich in salts, as compared with 
human milk, so that it may be interesting to state the 
composition of these salts. 

Thus in loo parts of the salts from cow's milk, there 
are: — 

No. 128. 

Chloride of potassium. 

,, „ sodium 
Phosphoric acid 



23-46 
6-96 

17-34 
2-20 



14-18 

4-74 

28 40 



Potash 
Soda . 
Lime . 
Magnesia . 

The absence of ordinary cow's milk is a great depriva- 
tion to Englishmen and Englishwomen (particularly to 
those who are not in good health) when travelling in 
Egypt, and in many parts of India, and Africa, for the 
milk of the bison is much stronger, and even repulsive 
until the palate has become accustomed to its use. In like 
manner, there are many persons who cannot eat goat's 
milk, which can alone be obtained in some parts of 
Switzerland ; but as a taste for it may be acquired, and 
the use of it would be very economical and beneficial to 
tlie poor in this country, the keeping of goats should be 
rocommended. 

10 grains of new milk when consumed in the body 
produces sufficient heat to raise 1*7 lb. of water 1° F., 
which is equal to lifting 1,246 lbs. one foot high. 

The milk of all animals is more easily digested 
when eaten hot, and particularly by those who have the 
impression, not. to say conviction, that it does not agree 



318 LIQUID FOODS. 

with tliem, and by invalids. This is not, however, 
due to any marked chemical change effected in the 
milk by heat, for the only effect is to coagulate the 
albumen and to raise it as a scum upon the surface, 
but to the stimulating effect of heat, both on the palate 
and stomach. It may, however, be added that the 
peculiar flavours of goat's and bison's milk are lessened 
by boiling the milk, and may be readily disguised by 
the addition of other foods or of condiments. 

Although the quantity of milk consumed in this 
country is considerable in the whole, it is small when 
computed on the basis of the population, and even 
milk-eating people, as those of Cheshire, take little, as 
compared with the inhabitants of many other countries. 
The peasantry of Sweden and Norway, of Switzerland 
and the Tyrol, the Bedouin of Arabia, the people of 
Kurdistan, and other mountainous countries in the East, 
live in great part on milk, and are said to take from 
four to seven pints a day per man, whilst the same is 
true of the wandering people found on pasture-lands 
bordering the Great Sahara. The inhabitants of the 
Western States of America, as of all newly-peopled 
countries, eat it largely, whilst, in my enquiries into the 
dietary of the labouring classes in this country, I 
found that the weekly consumption amounted to only 
32 oz. in England, 85 oz. in Wales, 125 oz. in Scotland, 
and 135 oz. in Ireland, or from one-quarter to about one 
pint per head per day. 

Camel's milk is in common use amongst the Arabs, 
and is often mixed with flour into a paste, and boiled, 
when it is called ayesh. It is also eaten largely by 
those living on the Thull, a sandy unproductive district 
at Lera, in India, and is stated to have a brackish 
flavour and but little fat. 

Mare's milk is used more commonly than cow's milk 



MILK, CREAM, BUTTER-MILK, AND WHEY. 310 

in Tartaiy, but is inferior as a nntrient in nearly all its 
elements. It is, however, very generally used in the pre- 
paration of a nutritious fermented and intoxicating 
beverage as thick as pea-soup, called Jcoumis. The curds 
and whej are separated by adding a little old and sour 
Icoumis to the milk, but they are again mixed bv 
vigforous shakino^. 

Adulteration op Mtlk. 

Fraudulent changes in milk are no doubt frequent, 
but have been greatly exaggerated, and are now pro- 
bably much loss than they ever were. They consist 
in the addition of water, the subtraction of cream, and 
the addition of mineral substances to deepen its opacity, 
and of animal substances to impart a richness of 
flavour. 

The addition of water, and the subtraction of a part 
of the cream, can scarcely be classed with adulterations, 
but they are to be reprehended, since they lower the 
nutritive value of the food, and being done without 
lowering the cost of the food are so far fraudulent. It 
is to this extent that changes are usually effected, 
and the instances are, I believe, rare where any injurious 
substance is added to it ; but it is desirable that tests 
of specific gravity should be regularly applied by a pur- 
chaser, and a judgment formed of its true value, as is 
the practice when purchasing ardent spirits, and other 
articles varying in strength. The lactometer effects 
this with readiness and efi&ciency. 

It is, however, certain that even in London it is 
possible to obtain milk as good as could be procured in 
the country ; for in an experience of man}- years at the 
West-end we have been supplied with milk of excellent 
quality. This is, however, the case chiefly when the 
milkman is himself a cow-keeper in the countr}^, or 
15 



320 LIQUID FOODS. 

obtains milk in a large quantity from the country, whilst 
the smaller dealers who supply the poor are less to be 
relied upon. Hence, it is desirable to aid the esta- 
blishment of milk companies, who may obtain large 
supplies, and be managed by respectable and honourable 
persons. 

The addition of foul water to milk, and the use of 
such water in the cleansing of the vessels which con- 
tain milk, has been known to be communicate infectious 
disease. 

It is worthy of remark, that the milk of diseased 
animals does not appear to contain any known germs of 
disease, and that it diflPers from that of healthy animals 
only in the lessened proportion of all the nutritive ele- 
ments. 

Preserved Milk. 

The i^reservation of milk so that it may be trans- 
ported from the producing groand to distant localities 
has recently become an important branch of trade, in 
America, Switzerland, and our own country. It is 
not pretended that this is effected on the ground of 
economy, and it can be approved only on that of 
necessity or convenience, for not only is the cost 
greater, but the product is neither so agreeable nor 
so nutritious as fresh milk. In many districts of 
England, it is not easy to obtain fresh milk and in 
some the difficulty is practically insuperable, so that 
any reasonably good substitute for it must be wel- 
come; but on the lines of railway and in towns 
as well as in by far the greater part of England, such 
a substitute if useful at all is simply as a convenience. 

It is prepared by the addition of refined sugar and an 
alkali, and by gentle evaporation in vacuum pans, until 
it has a very thick semi-fluid consistence, when it is 
placed in tins, which are sealed by solder, and may be 



MILK, CREAM, BUTTER-MILK, AND WHEY. 321 

transported and kept for many months. When such a 
tin is allowed to remain open for some weeks, the 
substance becomes drier and nearly solid, on its surface 
but its character does not change. 

Mr. A. Willard, lecturer in the Maine State Agricul- 
tural College, has published a very instructive paper on 
this subject in the ' Journal of the E-oyal Agricultural 
Society of England,' No. 15, which merits careful 
perusal. 

It appears that this process has long been carried on 
in America in two forms : the one producing plain con- 
densed milk, which will keep good for from one to four 
weeks ; and the other the ordinary preserved milk, which 
is said to be good for any period. The former is simply 
milk evaporated, so that four pints become one pint, 
without the addition of any preserving substance ; whilst 
the other is evaporated in the same degree, and receives 
a preparation of fine refined sugar for every gallon of 
milk. 

The following is the process at Dr. Crane's factory : — 

' The milk as it comes to the factory is carefully ex- 
amined, and if all right it is received and weighed. 
The cans are then placed upon the car, which runs on 
rails to the cooling vat. Here the milk is drawn into 
large tin pails, eight inches in diameter and eighteen 
inches long, holding twenty quarts each. About 
eighteen quarts are put in each pail, which is then 
placed in the vat containing cold spring water. After 
the milk has been cooled to 60°, the pails are immedi- 
ately plunged into the water of the heating vat, which 
has a temperature of from 186° to 190° F. 

' The best refined sugar is then added at the rate of 
four pounds lor each pail. The pails are kept in the 
vat of heated water about thirty minutes, when the 
milk is drawn ^nto the large condensing pan. This pai) 



322 LIQUID FOODS. 

has fifty corrugations, and is set over water and upon a 
furnace in the adjoining room. Directly over the pan 
are arranged two large fans, which are kept in motion 
by machinery. The temperature of the milk while 
evaporation is going on is uniform at 160° F. . 

' The fans carry off the water, forcing it through ven- 
tilators out of the building as fast as it is formed into 
vapour. Under this process it takes about seven hours 
to condense the milk, seventy-five per cent, of its original 
bulk in water being driven off. 

' The faucets at each end of the pan are opened, and 
the condensed fluid passes through fine wire-strainers, 
or sieves, into large cans. These cans, when filled, are 
rolled away to the tables at the back of the room, where 
their contents are drawn off into small tin cans holding 
one pound each, and these arc immediately sealed up to 
exclude the air.' 

The process at the Elgin factory, which is noted for 
its product, is very similar. 

' After the milk is received it passes through a strainer 
to the receiving vat; from this it is conducted off, 
going through another strainer into the heating-cans, 
each holding about twenty gallons. These cans are set 
in hot water, and the milk is held in them till it reaches 
a temperature of 150° to 175° F. It then goes through 
another strainer into a large vat, at the bottom of 
which is a coil of copper pipe, through which steam is 
conducted, and here the milk is heated up to the boiling 
point. Then, the best quality of granulated sugar is 
added, in the proportion of one and a quarter pound to 
the gallon of milk, when it is drawn into the vacuum- 
pan, having a capacity of condensing 3,000 quarts or 
more at a time. The milk remains in the vacuum -pan, 
subjected to steam for about three hours, during which 
time about 75 per cent, of the bulk of water is removed, 



MILK, CREAM, BUTTER-MILK, AND AVHEY. 323 

when it is drawn off into cans holding 40 quarts each. 
The cans are only partiall}^ filled, and are then set in a 
kirge vat containing cold water, the water being of a 
height equal to that of the milk in the cans. Here it 
is stirred until the temperature of the condensed fluid 
is reduced to a little below 70° ; it is then turned into 
large drawing cans with faucets, in order to facilitate 
the filling of the small cans. The milk is drawn from 
the faucets into the small cans, holding a pound each, 
when they go to the tables, and are immediately soldered 
to exclude the air.' 

The business is becoming very extensive in America, 
and the greatest care is taken, by extreme caution and 
cleanliness, to prevent the development of fungi or 
vegetable organisms of any kind^so that the milk may 
keep perfectly good. 

Preserved milk thus prepared, whether in America, 
England, or on the Continent of Europe, contains about 
one- third of its weight of sugar. 

This preparation has been recommended as a food 
for infants, and it is much liked by them ; but it is 
an error to assume that a given quantity when dis- 
solved in water will yield new milk or be as useful as 
new milk in feeding infants and young children, and 
it should never be used as a substitute in such cases 
whenever new milk can be obtained. 

Dr. Daly has raised a very important question in the 
columns of the ' Lancet,' of November 2nd, 1872, and 
asserts that such milk causes an undue development of 
fiit, leads infants to refuse food of a more simple flavour, 
and renders them less able to resist disease. His re- 
marks are sufiiciently important to merit quotation. 

' Children like the condensed milk far better than cow's 
milk ; I suppose from its sweetness. Its general effect is that 



324 LIQUID FOODS. 

infants thrive remarkably, and get mucli fatter as a rule on it 
than even on the breast. To look at, children brought up on 
condensed milk are extremely healthy. 

Now arises the question, which has induced me to trespass 
upon you with this letter, viz., are all the children really 
strong and well nourished, or are they only strong-looking ? 
That they are well fattened is manifest, but is the fatness only 
the result of a sort of converse Bantingism ? The continued 
use of the so-called Banting regimen will, no doubt, soon 
reduce a man's adipose tissue and weight, but it will do so at 
the expense of deteriorating the whole system, of dangerously 
lowering the vitality, and therefore the power of resisting the 
disease. So likewise I have observed in a number of cases, 
carefully watched during the past eighteen months, that while 
condensed milk fattens, and while children apparently thrive 
upon it, the vitality of the child is below par to a very danger- 
ous degree. 

I found that during the summers of 1871 and 1872 children 
taking condensed milk sank rapidly of diarrhoea, which was 
not at all severe on such as to cause alarm, and that the pros- 
tration was out of all proportion to the severity of the disease, 
and came on almost immediately. Indeed, as far as my ex- 
perience goes, it has been invariably the case that children fed 
on condensed milk and attacked with diarrhoea at all severely, 
almost immediately get into a semi-collapsed state, and if 
brandy be not at once given, they die. I have observed the 
same with regard to other diseases, as for instance measles, 
whooping-cough, and bronchitis. The resisting power of the 
child has been bad, and those children brought up on the im- 
pure London fed cows' milk will resist an attack of acute 
disease better than children fed on condensed milk. I can 
give no explanation of this. Whether my observations be 
correct, or only the result of a strange series of coincidences, 
it is a matter well worthy of more extended investigation. 

I have now before me notes of a number of cases confirming 
the above views. In one child that I saw fed entirely upon 
condensed milk from a month old, collapse set in from a few 
hours diarrhoea, which was not at all severe, and the child 



MILK, CREAM, B.UTTEII-MILK, AND WHEY. 325 

only recovered by the free use of brandj. This child was in 
perfect health, to look at, before the attack. Another child, 
taking condensed milk, and who was on the brink of the 
grave from one day's slight diarrhoea, by my advice was after- 
wards fed on goat's milk, and while taking goat's milk it had 
another attack of diarrhoea, more severe than the first, but the 
alarming symptoms of exhaustion did not come on, and the 
child was soon well. I could relate many such cases. I have 
seen several children sink of slight diarrhoea in a few hours 
who were being brought up on the condensed milk, the chil- 
dren being healthy to look at, and the diarrhoea such as 
generally gets well. I do not wish to draw any positive con- 
clusions from these cases ; I only state what I have observed. 
Again, I have invariably found that children brought up on 
this milk are most backward in walking, no doubt due to the 
inferior muscular nutrition, and also that the anterior fonta- 
nelle is very late in closing, arising from the osseous system 
not being properly nourished. The children generally, too, 
have the abdomen rather large. I may mention also that it is 
most difficult to get children using condensed milk to take 
other kinds of food, and as they grow old enough to eat 
farinpiceous puddings they will not touch them unless they 
are saturated with sugar.' 

Sucli is a medical practitioner's view of this raatter, 
and it deserves the attention of mothers and of all who 
have the care of infants and young children. VYithont 
explaining the medical aspect of the question (which 
would be out of place here), I remark that as a food the 
addition of nearly two ounces of sugar to the pint of 
cow's milk greatly lessens its nutritive value, and induces 
a tendency to starvation of muscle-forming element. 
Then, whilst in natural cow's milk the proportion of 
nitrogen (flesh forming) to carbon (fat forming) is 1 to 12, 
in the preserved milk it is not much more than one half 
or about 1 to 20. If the object were to feed an animal 
for the market it would be attained by this method, 



326 LIQUID FOODS. 

but if to make infants into strong muscular men and 
women, the proportion which Nature has provided 
must be supplied. 

For office use, or when travelling it is not convenient 
to obtain milk at the required moment, or for family use 
when milk cannot be obtained at all, it is a valuable 
food. 

Artificial Milk. 

Many attempts have been made to prepare milk arti- 
licially, and thus to supply a want which is often 
experienced, but they have not been successful so far as 
to please the appetite of those who consume it. 

As the composition of cow's milk is well known, 
there is no difficulty in combining the same elements 
artificially, so that the compound may be as nutritious 
as. natural milk. Thus M. Dubrunfant has suggested 
the following recipe ; — 

Half a pint of water, 1| ounce of cane or grape 
sugar, ^ an ounce of dry Avhite of egg, and 15 grains 
of crystals of carbonate of soda, to be made into an 
emulsion whilst warm with If to 2 ounces of the finest 
olive oil or some other pure fat. This compound will 
be as thick as cream, and another half pint of water 
must be added to make it of the consistency of milk. 
The addition of a little gelatin, say 30 grains to the 
pint, will increase the resemblance of the compound to 
cream, and will allow more water to be added when 
artificial milk is to be produced. 

It is, however, needless to say that such a compound 
could not for a moment compete with natural milk if 
both could be obtained ; and it may be of interest to add, 
that when natural milk is divided into its component 
parts, the eifect of all is less than that of the combina- 
tion in the milk. 



MILK, CREAM, BUTTEE-MILK, AND WHEY. 327 

Ceeam. 

Cream consists of minute globules of oil which are 
distributed throughout the mass of milk and give 
opacity to it, but after the milk has been kept at rest 
for a time the globules, by reason of their less specific 
gravity, rise to the surface and accumulate as a Isijer of 
cream. A considerable time is requisite to cause all 
the globules to rise, and thus leave the milk free from 
them ; but it is shortened, and the operation rendered 
more complete by the application of a gentle heat, as in 
the preparation of clotted cream in Devonshire, and in 
that of shor or malai in Bengal. 

The cream thus separated may be removed by skim- 
ming, but a portion of milk is also taken away in 
the operation. The quantity and purity of the cream 
depend upon all the causes already mentioned, as 
affecting the quality of the milk, as also on the duration 
and completeness of the repose of the milk, and the 
care exercised in skimming it, and practically they 
var}^ much. 

When thus separated, it consists of fatty matter with 
a proportion of milk, and as the cream is often allowed 
to accumulate for some days before it is converted into 
butter, the milk becomes sour. When the cream has 
been churned, the butter collects in masses, and the 
watery-looking residue is butter-milk ; but a proj)ortion 
of butter-milk is retained by the butter in the inverse 
ratio of the washing and pressing of the butter. Hence, 
as butter is scarcely ever entirely free from butter-milk, 
it cannot be absolutely free from a trace of nitrogenous 
matter. 

The usual chemical composition of cream in TOO 
parts is water 66, nitrogen 2'7, sugar 2*8, fat 26*7, salts 
1-8. Thus, about one quarter of the weight is butter. 



328 LIQUID FOODS. 

but in that respect the composition varies from 22 tc 
33 per cent. 

The effect upon myself of taking 2 onnces of good 
fresh cream was to canse a maximum increase of '48 
grain and an average increase of -24 grain of car- 
bonic acid per minute by the respiration, and a maxi- 
mum increase in the quantity of air inspired of 33 
cubic inches per minute. (No. 124.) 

Butter-milk. 

Butter-milk is the residue of cream after the butter 
has been made, and is about two- thirds of the whole 
weight of the cream. In general chemical characters 
it is analogous to skim milk, for it retains all the 
elements of milk except the fat, but as it may have 
acquired free acid at the expense of the sugar its nutri- 
tive qualities may be so far inferior to those of skim 
milk. 

The following is the chemical composition of butter- 
milk in 100 parts : — 

No. 129. 
Water 88 Nitrogenous 4-1 Sugar 3-6 Fat 07 Salts 0*8 

It is evident that the causes of variation in the 
composition of milk apply to butter-milk, and the 
composition cannot be reduced to a fixed standard. 
Moreover, it frequently happens, and particularly in 
those countries where milk is abundant and labour 
scarce, that small lumps of butter are allowed to remain 
in butter-milk, by which the proportionate quantity of 
fat will be increased and the total nutritive value 
exceed that of well-skimmed milk. This, therefore, is 
a very valuable article of food, and as it is usual to 
reo-ard it ' as even inferior to skim milk,' it is clear that 
there is not a just appreciation of it in the dietary 



MILK, CEEAM, BUTTER-MILK, AND WHEY. 329 

of the poor. It enters largely into the dietar}'- of the 
labourers in Ireland, Scotland, and South Wales, whilst 
it is commonly used in Cheshire, and is of the greatest 
value where there is a deficiency of other nitrogenous 
food. The Irish labourer obtains about four pints a day, 
which alone offers a large quantit}^ of nutriment, whilst 
its flavour is a most agreeable addition to that of 
boiled potato or Indian meal stirabout. Its use is 
universal in India ; and as a food it is regarded as so 
important by the pastoral tribes of Meerut that they 
say ' a man ma}'- live without bread ; but without 
butter-milk he dies.' It should be everywhere distri- 
buted to the poor where milk cannot be obtained by 
them in sufficient quantity. 

There are 420 grains of carbon and 43J grains of 
nitrogen in each pint of butter-milk, but if the free 
hydrogen be reckoned as carbon the total quantity of 
the latter will be 462 grains per pint of 20 ounces. 

When butter-milk is added to boiling whey and the 
two are well mixed, a soft curd is thrown down. This 
mixture is called fieetings in Wales, and is eaten when 
either hot or cold with the addition of bread. 

Whet. 

Whey is the residuum of milk after the manufacture 
of cheese, and is therefore nearly destitute of casein 
and fat, whilst it contains the sugar, acids, and salts 
of milk. If the cheese be made from new milk there 
will be a small proportion of fat left in the whey, and 
probably the whole of the curd will not have been re 
moved whether the milk be new or skimmed. 

Hence whey as an article of food is valuable, chiefly 
from its salts and free acids, and is often an agreeable 
addition to other foods in the dietary of the sick. 



330 LIQUID FOODS. 

According to Professor Yoelcher, it yields 193-2 grains 
of carbon and 14*5 grains of nitrogen per pint. 

The use of curd and whey was well known to our 
Saxon and l^Torman ancestors, and the fritters made with 
milk was Ly no means to be despised. The following 
is the recipe ; — ' Take of crud'd and psse out the wheyse. 
do ' thto su whyte of ayreu. (eggs) fry he, do ' thto and 
lay on su (sugar) and messe forth.' 



CHAPTEE XXXV. 

TEA, COFFEE, CHICORY, COCOA, AND CHOCOLATE. 

Tea. 
We have on several occasions, in the course of this 



woikj referred to the marked changes in the food of 
so fixed and stable a population as that of this country, 
all of which have been associated with a gradual refine- 
ment of taste, increased pecuniary means, and diminu- 
tion in the price of products, as the results of improved 
modes of manufacture. The most striking change 
hitherto mentioned has been the substitution of fine 
wheaten flour for coarse wheaten flour, barley-meal, 
rye-meal, and even for oatmeal, and the cause is due to, 
or at least essentially connected with, the reduced cost 
of wheat. But it is probable that, of all changes of 
diet, none can compare with the extension of the use 
of tea. Prom the sixteenth century, when it was 
sold at ten guineas a pound, to our day, when we have 
it of excellent quality at 2s. a pound, its use has been 
extended from a hundred people to the millions of Great 
Britain and the Eipglish-speaking race, wherever they 
can obtain it. Other races have also adopted it, but 
much more tardily, because of their lack of maritime 



TEA, COFFEE, CHICORY, ETC. 331 

commerce, the difficulty and expense of obtaining it, or 
their more limited pecuniary means ; and, even at this 
day, the difference in the use of this article by the 
Latin races and the Anglo-Saxon and allied races is 
extremely marked. If to be an Englishman is to eat 
beef, to be an EnglishAvoman is to drink tea; and, 
although the excessive drinking of beer has been 
regarded as a characteristic opprobrium of our race, 
the badge seems now to be transferred, or to be in 
course of transfer, to the great Teutonic race — a race 
allied to us in many mental and bodily qualities, as 
well as in social habits. 

I>ro one who has lived for half a centurj^ can have 
failed to note the wonderful extension of the tea-drinking 
habits in England, from the time when tea was a 
coveted and almost unattainable luxury to the labourer's 
wife, to its use morning, noon, and night by all classes. 
The caricature of Hogarth, in which a lady and. gentle- 
man approach in a very dainty manner, each holding 
an Oriental tea-cup of infantine size, implies more 
than a satire upon the porcelain-purchasing habits of 
the day, and shows that the use of tea was not only 
the fashion of a select few, but the quantity of the 
beverage consumed was as small as the tea-cups. 

So also as to the strength of the infusion which is 
drank, whilst it is very weak in the tea-shops of China 
and Japan, it is so weak in the cup of the professional 
tea-taster, when pursuing his calling, that only the 
weight of a sixpence is used at a time ; and whilst it is 
still necessarily weak in the cup of the poverty-stricken 
wife, it is the fashion among the wealthy classes to make 
it so strong that a tea-cup of dry tea is thrown into 
the tea-pot, which is to j)roduce, perhaps, half-a-dozen 
cups of the beverage. This change can be Avithout 
effect, only oij the presumption that the action of tea i^ 



332 LIQUID FOODS. 

slight and unimportant, within the limits of toleration, 
inherent to our nature. 

Such changes — so wide and so great — must have 
left their mark upon the j)h3^sical, mental, and social 
habits of our day, whether they are regarded positively 
or negatively. Whether, in spite of them, or in conse- 
quence of them, the changes of the day have been 
towards health of body, activity of mind, cultivation of 
taste, and refinement of personal habits — that is to say, 
towards the subjugation of the body to the mind and 
conscience. 

The cultivation of the tea plant and the preparation 
of tea have been surrounded by some mystery, from the 
distance at which they occur, and the few who have 
transmitted descriptions to us. There is still an air of 
romance about the Flowery Land, which is the fruit of 
our ignorance as much as of our veneration for the 
antiquity of that race and government, and we are apt 
to extend it to all its productions and associations. 

The affair is, however, a very simple one in all that 
does not relate to minute mechanical details, many 
of which may not be really essential to the pro- 
cess. There is but one kind of plant from which tea is 
made wherever it is found, although by cultivation it 
may have produced varieties ; and the whole principle 
involved in the process of manufacture is hot that of 
any important chemical change, but simply the drying 
of the leaf for preservation and for future use with the 
least possible injury. 

The tea plant, Thea sinensis, is closely allied to 
the camellias, with which we are familiar in this 
country. The leaf is, however, more pointed, and is 
lance- shaped, and not so thick and hard as that of the 
camellia. The same plant produces in one place green 
and in another black tea, and is called Thca viridis or 



TEA, COFFEE, CHICORY, ETC. 833 

Thea Bohea, as though green tea were made from the 
Diie and black from the other, but in certain districts the 
Thea viridis is grown for the production of black tea. 
The Assam tea is produced from the Thea Assamensis, 
but it is the same plant as that obtained from China. 

Efforts are made to introduce the tea plant into 
various other countries, as, for example, into Ceylon, 
Australia, North and South Carolina, and California, 
It is usually raised from seed, and the following account 
of the process, extracted from the ' South Australian 
Register,' may be as useful as interesting : — 

' The plants are usually placed at five feet distance from 
each other, which takes about six pounds of seed to the acre. 
If the seed be fresh the general practice is to plant it out at once 
in the spots where it is intended to permanently remain. This 
is done by digging a hole with a pickaxe or mattock one foot 
deep, filling it with the loosened earth, and sticking the seed 
about three inches below the surface. In cases of experiment 
with inferior seed or upon untried land, it is most advisable to 
plant in nursery beds about six feet in width, into which the 
seeds are dibbled or drilled at two or three inches apart from 
each other. The most suitable season for this operation is the 
commencement of the winter rains, as the moisture materially 
assists their germination. Some will germinate in four or six 
weeks, but many will lie dormant for four months, and in most 
cases none will grow until the advent of the rains. 

Young small seedling plants stand extreme cold badly ; if, 
therefore, they germinate at such a time they ought in a new 
climate to have a top dressing of manure, and to be protected 
by branches or grass, which, when the sun shines, should be 
removed to give them the advantage of his beams. In this 
manner small plants may become fit for removal in two 
months. 

As soon as the young plants are three inches high they 
ought to be weeded, for if weeds are allowed to remain they 
draw them up, and then make the plants thin and w^eakly. It 



334 LIQUID FOODS. 

matters not tliough the weeder in removing weeds disturbs 
seed germinating, as they can easily be put in the ground 
again. Moreover, the advantage given to the young plant by 
opening up the soil around them is great, and more than com- 
pensates for the injury done. 

Plants are sometimes raised from layers and cuttings. The 
most favourable season for these operations is when the sap is 
beginning to rise and in full action, as during the rains. Seed- 
ling plants ought not to be transplanted until eight inches 
high, and in planting them on the slopes of steep hills care 
should be taken to place them horizontal to the dip of the 
land, as the earth is not so liable to be washed away from the 
roots by the heavy rains. 

Tea leaves should not be gathered until the third year, and 
then during the rains, in order to allow the bushes to attain a 
considerable size. If the plants send out long leading shoots 
in the second year these ought to be nipped off in order to 
induce the plant to throw out lateral shoots and become of a 
thick and bushy form, yielding an abundance of leaves. 

The leaves are gathered during the rains, the number of 
pluckings of each plant being four, and in every wet season 
five, with an interval of from four to six weeks between each. 
Each plant will yield in the third season about half a pound of 
raw leaves or two ounces of manufactured tea of a suj^erior 
quality, giving an average of about 80 lbs. to the acre. Two 
years, more will increase the yield tenfold, being 1| lb. of 
manufactured tea to the plant. 

The process of gathering the leaves is extremely simple, and 
is cliiefly performed by women and children. All old and 
fibrous leaves are left upon the tree. The yoiung leaves are 
stripped off with the hand, an inch or so of the soft and suc- 
culent stalk being taken with them. The finest kind of black 
tea is prepared from the tender buds at the extremity of the 
twigs, and is kept from the rest. A woman accustomed to 
the work will gather in a day from 16 lbs. to 20 lbs. of raw 
eaves. 

The proper time for sowing the seed in Soath Australia is 
June to August.' 



TEA, COFFEE, CHICORY, ETC. 335 

The tea plant is cultivated in China on the hill sides, 
at an elevation extending to 4,000 feet where the soil is 
rich and deep, the drainage good, and sunlight abun- 
dant, through about 11 degrees of latitude. It will 
grow in almost any temperate climate, and therefore 
further north and south than the 24° or 35°, but it is 
not then so valuable for the preparation of tea. It 
requires also good manuring and cultivation ; and when 
the leaves become hard and tough the old wood must be 
cut out and new shoots produced, and thus the tree will 
remain useful for the period of a generation. The plant 
would grow to the height of thirty or forty feet and 
have a stem more than a foot in diameter, but by proper 
pruning it is kept down to a height of from three to 
five feet. The leaves when full grown measure from 
five to nine inches in length. About 320 lbs. of dried 
tea are produced on an acre, and 1 lb. of dried tea is 
prepared from 4 lbs. of green leaves. In some respects 
the cultivation reminds us of the grape on the sides of 
the Rhine ; and in another particular the two products 
are similar, namely, that as the produce of adjoining 
vineyards may materially differ in the flavour and 
quality of the wine produced, although the soil, climate 
and cultivation may seem to be the same, each tea 
plantation obtains its own character for produce. 

Other things being equal, the qualities of teas vary 
with the time of picking, and therefore with the develop- 
ment of the leaf. The earliest pickings of the buds or 
youngest leaves in April yield fine young Hyson, with 
its thin leaf, which may be closely rolled together, its 
greenish colour and delicate fla.vour — that is to say, 
with a large proportion of juices in relation to the 
solid substance of the leaf, and with the substance in 
the most pliable form. This is, however, a kind of 
tea which is prepared with difficulty, that it may 



S36 LIQUID FOODS. 

remain without change of colour, and be preserved 
perfectly ; and as it is very apt to set up the process 
of fermentation, it is rarely conveyed in large masses, 
as in our great tea ships, but in small quantities on 
horses' backs, or by caravans to Russia ; and no in- 
considerable part of the crop is reserved for the use of 
the Tv^ealthy Chinese. At this early stage the petiole of 
the leaf and even the delicate stalk is sometimes broken 
off and prepared with the leaf. 

The later pickings, extending through April to May, 
are not more valuable in nutrition because the leaf is 
more matured, for the value consists not in the structure 
of the leaf (which is much the same as that of other 
leaves), but in the juices, and they are as perfect after 
the first rise of the sap as at the middle of the season. 
Hence the finer and more delicate the texture of the 
leaf, or, in other words, the less it is developed and aged, 
the better is the quality of the tea. This value is con- 
nected not only with the positive advantage of the juices 
referred to, but with the amount of tannin which is 
present in the leaf, and which gives an astringent and 
bitter taste to the infusion. There is a proportion of 
tannin in all tea leaves of whatever age, and it is pro- 
bable that the quality of the fcea is improved by thus 
gaining in what is called body ; but when it is in large 
quantity, as in the older leaves, its flavour masks that 
of the tea in the infusion, and with greater depth of 
colour and fulness there is much less delicacy of flavour. 

Havinoc thus obtained leaves either at various times or 
of various sizes (both of which circumstances may in- 
dicate difference in quality) the next stej) is that of drying 
and preserving them. The details of the process are 
very minute, so that the accounts vary, or they them- 
selves may vary, without affecting the product, but 
the principles involved are, first, to dry them ; second 



TEA, COFFEE CHICORY, ETC. 337 

to render tliem supple for the further process of rolling ; 
third, to preserve the colour if intended for green tea, or 
to allow the colour to change if intended for black tea. 

The leaves are dried in pans, which are heated to the 
proper degree with straw or charcoal without the least 
smoke, and the quantity in the pan is such as that the 
heat may be equally applied to all with only such move- 
ment of the leaves as may be effected by the hands or 
by shaking the vessel. The exposure to heat is regulated 
not only by the heat of the pan, but by the removal of 
the leaves and the re -application of the heat at different 
stages of the process. 

The physical character of the leaf as to suppleness 
is modified by manipulation and the regulation of the 
heat. 

The colour of green tea is retained by the rapidity 
of the drying process, whilst to produce black tea the 
leaf is exposed to atmospheric changes for a longer 
time, so as to set up the process of fermentation. A 
face is put upon such green tea as may be desired, by 
heating and manipulating it with a very small quantity 
of Prussian blue mixed with gypsum and indigo, but 
it is less frequently performed than formerly on the 
higher class of green teas. 

During this process of preparation the teas are 
sorted according to the size of the leaf : a classification 
which also indicates quality, so that the term 8u-cliong, 
with which we are now familiar, indicates one of such 
classes. The smallest, however, are called Pha-hOf 
the second size Pow-chong, and the fourth or largest 
Tcy-cliong. 

The leaves thus prepared for the market have 
acquired a new appearance and flavour, and have ex- 
perienced a change quite as great as that between 
roasted meat and raw meat, or old dried hay and grass^ 



338 LIQUID FOODS. 

but the principle involved is much the same in all the 
cases. 

It is evident from the foregoing that the product ot 
different farms, and even of the same farm in different 
seasons, may vary w^ith more or less care of cultivation 
and age of the plants. The whole produce is called a 
chop of tea, and consists of some or all the varieties just 
indicated ; but green tea and black tea are not usually 
produced on the same farm or even in the same locality. 

It is also clear that, as great skill is required in the 
manufacture of the tea, the quality wiU vary much 
as the care and skill varies ; and it is in this respect 
that the production of tea in other countries, as in Japan, 
Java, India, the Brazils, North America, and Australia, 
is difficult, and excellence is attained only after great 
delay. Just as there are good and bad farmers in 
every country, so v^ill it be in China and India ; but 
the long continuance of the tea cultivation in China 
by the same families tends to maintain a degree of 
uniformity which would not be found in our changing 
country. 

The Government of India have for nearly forty 
years made great efforts to extend the growth of the 
indigenous Tea plant and the production of tea in 
various parts of that great empire, and have succeeded 
in Upper and Lower Assam, Kumaon, Cachar, Arracan, 
Dehra Doon, Darjeeling, Sunderbund, Chittagong, 
and other districts, and great expectations are formed 
as to the fitness of the Himalayas. The tea produced 
has a more penetrating flavour, and contains a larger 
proportion of chemical elements than much of the 
China tea, so that when used alone it is not agreeable, 
but as a mixing tea it has a high value. It is therefore 
probable that, so far as the plant and its cultivation 
is concerned, they have the requisite knowledge and 



TEA, COFFEE, CHICORY, ETC. 339 

art, and the comparative failure lies rather in the picking 
and manufacture of the leaves. 

The flavouring of tea is a well-known process, and 
is carried on with the middle and inferior qualities of 
teas exclusively. It is easily effected by placing the 
tea leaves in process of manufacture with the aromatic 
flowers of plants ; as, for example, the Olea fragrans, 
in preparing the varieties of scented Pekoe. Such odours 
are very evanescent, but delicate and agreeable, and give 
a pleasing variety to the flavour of the inferior tea with 
which they are usually associated. They do not, how- 
ever, add to the chemical or dietetic value of the tea. 

Hence tea is divided into three great classes, green, 
black, and scented, and each is subdivided according 
to the size of the leaf; but the names vary somewhat 
from 3^ear to year. 

Of green teas there are : 

Gunpowder, Hyson, young Hyson, Imperial, Twankay, 
Japan and Java, coloured and uncoloured. 

Of black teas there are : 

Congou, Moning and Kaisou ; Souchong ; Oolong ; 
Orange Pekoe, Canton and Poo Choo ; and Caper, plain 
and scented. 

With regard to Indian teas, it has been recommended 
to classify them under eight heads, viz. : — 

1. Pine Pekoe, or all flowery leaf. 

2. Pekoe, little flowery, with small leaf. 

3. Pekoe Souchong, la,rge leaf, few ends. 

4. Souchong, larger leaf, without ends. 

5. Congou, all coarse, dark, leafy sorts. 

6. Broken Pekoe, siftings of fine Pekoe Pekoe. 

7. Broken black siftings of Pekoe Souchong Sou- 
chong. 

8. Tannings, siftings of Congou, old leaf. 



340 LIQUID FOODS. 

There are also inferior kinds of tea in wliich the 
quality is infinitely deteriorated. Thus, the dust of the 
leaf is mixed with clay and manipulated into the form of 
the ordinary leaf and sold as lie tea. Tea leaves which 
have been already used are again manipulated and 
rolled into shape and sold as genuine tea. The leaves 
of other plants are added to those of the tea plant, and 
thus the quality of the whole is deteriorated, or an 
undue proportion of stalk is added to the leaf, and the 
weight thereby increased disproportionally to the 
chemical value. 

It is stated in the Planter's Price Current that one 
sample of tea proved to be wholly composed of the 
following substances : — 

' Iron, plumbago, chalk, China clay, sand, Prussian 
blue, turmeric, indigo, starch, gypsum, catechu, gum, 
the leaves of the camellia, sarangua, Chloranthus offi- 
cinalis, elm, oak, willow, poplar, elder, beech, hawthorn, 
and sloe.' 

The following list of trees from which leaves are 
obtained for this purpose in North America, Abyssinia, 
Tasmania, the Mauritius, the Isle of Bourbon, and 
other countries, has been compiled by Mr. Johnston, and 
is worthy of perusal, since it must not be assumed that 
the Chinese tea plant alone possesses agreeable, stimu- 
lating, and yet not intoxicating properties. 



TEA, COFFEE, CHICORY, ETC. 



341 



No. 130. 
LIST OF SUBSTITUTES FOR CHINESE TEA AND MAT^. 



) Name of the riant 


Natural order 


Where collected 
and ut^ed 


1 
Name given to it 


Hi'drangea thun- ) 
bergii . . . 1 


HydrangeaceiE. 


Japan. 


f Ama tsja or Tea 
(. of Heaven. 


Sageretia theezans . 


Rhamnace<e. 


China. 


? 


Ocymum album 


Labiatai. 


India. 


Toolsie tea. 


CathaeduUs . . . 


Celastracece. 


Abyssinia. 


Khat or chaat. 


Glaphyria nitida . 


Myrtacese. 


f Bencoolen. 1 
1 (flowers used). J 


Tea plant and Tree 
of Long Life. 


Correa alba . . . 


RutaccEB. 


NewHoUand. v 
Do. 




AcEena sanguis- ) 
orba .... J 


Sanguisorbiace^. 




Leptospermum sco- 




Do. 


Tea plants, and 


parium, and L. 
thea ..... 


Myrtacete. 


Tasmanian tea. 


Melaleuca scoparia, 








and M. genisti- • 


Myrtacere. 


Do. ) 




foUa .... 








Myrtus ugni . . . 


Myrtace^, 


Chili. 


1 Substitutes for 
t Paraguay tea. 


Psoralea glandulosa 


LeguminosEB. 


Do. 


Alstouia tneaformis 


Slyracacere. 


New Granada. 


Santa Fe tea. 


Capraria bifolia. . 


Scrophulariacese. 


Central America. 


? 


Lantana pseudothea 


Verbenacese. 


Brazil. 


Capitao da matto. 


Chenopodium am- ) 
brosioides . . J 


Chenopodiaceae. 


f Mexico and ) 
t Columbia. [ 


Mexican tea. 


Viburnum cassi- \ 
noides . . . [ 


Caprifoliacese. 


North America. | 


Appalachian tea. 


Prinos glaber . . 


AquifoUacece. 


Do. j 




Ceanothus Ameri- ) 
camis. . . . f 


RhamnaceEe. 


Do. 


f New Jersey tea 
i (medicinal). 


Gaultheria pro- [ 
cumbens . . J 


Ericacete. 


Do. 


Mountain tea. 


Ledum palustre . | 
Ledum latifolium J 


Ericacete. 


Do. 


f Labrador tea, or 
\ James' tea. 


Monirda didyma ) 
M. purpurea . . [ 


LabiatiB. 


Do. 


Oswego tea. 


Angrtecum frag- ) 
raus .... J 


Orchidiaceae. 


Mauritius. 


f Bourbon or Fa- 
i ham tea. 


Micromeria thea- ) 
sinensis . ." . j 


Labiatas. 


France. 


? 


Stachytarpheta ja- [ 
maicensis . . ) 


Yerbenacete. 


Austria. 


Brazilian tea. 


Prunus spinosa, ■ 




Northern J 
Europe. i 


Sloe and Strawberry 


J mixed with § ' 
Fragaria colUna, [ 
or P. vesca . . j 


Drupacfas. 


tea, one of our best 


Rosacefe. 


substitutes for 




Chinese tea. 


Salvia officinalis . 


Labiatae. 


Do. 


Sage tea. 



Many of these plants are believed to possess the 
narcotic properties already referred to in mate and 
coffee leaves, and have more the character of medicine 
than food ; whilst aromatic leaves, as mint and heather, 
have been used in this and other countries, to prepare 
beverages with an agreeable flavour or odour without 
other properties. The general use of China tea, and 
the low price, at which it may be obtained, ha-'e almost 



342 LiaUID FOODS. 

entirely displaced such substances, except with a medi- 
cinal object, and no further reference to them is neces- 
sary. 

Tea, of whatever quality, being thus prepared, it 
is desi-rable to put it into the market at the earliest 
moment and in the best possible condition, for although 
it is said that the Chinese do not drink it until it is 
a year old, the value of new tea is superior to that 
of old ; and the longer the duration of a voyage in 
which a great mass of tea is packed up in a closed 
hold, the greater the probability that the process of 
fermentation will be set up. Hence has arisen the 
great strife to bring the first cargo of the season 
to England, and the fastest and most skilfully com- 
manded ships are engaged in the trade both for the 
profit and honour of success. Such clij^pers have 
made the trip in ninety days, and the whole cargo 
has been dispersed and in the retailers' hands within 
a week of their arrivaj. Hence, those who desire it 
may now obtain tea of the highest quality and in 
the best condition in which it can be obtained iix 
England. Many years ago, in Papers at the Society 
of Arts, we showed that the value of tea is deter- 
mined in the market by its flavour and body — that 
is to say, by the aromatic qualities of its essential 
oil and the chemical elements of the leaf, rather than 
by the chemical composition of its juices, and but 
little estimate is made of the quantity of the peculiar 
chemical principle which the juices possess. Delicacy 
and fulness of flavour, with a certain body, are the 
required characteristics of the market, and the former 
is due chiefly to the volatile oil which is present to the 
extent of 1 per cent., but the quantity of theine — the 
active principle of tea — is the character required by the 
chemist and physiologist. Hence the two methods of 



TEA, COFFEE, CHICOKY, ETC. 343 

estimation are not necessarily identical, but there is a 
general agreement between fulness of flavour and 
the dietetic quality of a genuine tea. 

The tea- taster prepares his samples from a uniform 
and very small quantity, viz., the weight of a new six- 
pence, and infuses it for five minutes with about four 
ounces of water in a covered pottery vessel, and in order 
to prevent injury to his health by repeated tasting, 
does not swallow the fluid. He must have naturally a 
sensitive and refined taste, and should be always in 
good health, and able to estimate flavour with the same 
minuteness at all times. He regulates the value of the 
sample simply by the rules already mentioned. 

In selecting tea it must be borne in mind that 
nearly all genuine teas possess approximately the same 
amount of theine, and for dietetic purposes, all, what- 
ever their price, are practically equal. This is the hard 
utilitarian view of the matter, and one which would lead 
the thrifty housewife to select the cheaper teas, provided 
they are genuine. But nearlj^ all persons go further 
than mere utility, and seek for luxury in the flavour of 
the tea, and in that direction may proceed from 2s. a 
pound for a genuine Congou to two guineas a pound 
for Russian Caravan tea, but practically they are 
limited to prices which should not be wider apart 
than 2s. and 6s. per pound. Fortunately, the lowest 
priced genuine tea is of good flavour — good enough to 
satisfy the desires of ordinary consumers ; whilst more 
refined tastes and larger means may enjoy a wider range 
of selection. 

It is desirable to determine first whether to purchase 
a green or a black tea, and to bear in mind that the 
finest green tea is the purest tea obtainable in this coun- 
try. Of green teas it matters not which variety is selected, 
provided the , quality of Hyson be of the highest. 
16 



O'i-A LIQUID FOODS. 

Of black teas Congou sliould be preferred for economy, 
and also as a foundation for a mixed tea. A higher 
class of tea for ordinary use may be composed of three 
parts of Congou and one jDart of Assam or Oolong ; whilst 
for the best kinds a mixture may be made of one part of 
Kaisow and three of fine Souchong, or of two parts of 
Kaisow, three of Souchong, and one of Oolong orange- 
flavoured Pekoe, or fine Assam ; or equal parts of 
Souchong, Kaisow, and flowery Pekoe may be taken. 
It is possible that one kind of tea, as Souchong, may 
be so fine as to give fulness of both flavour and 
body, but these qualities are more certainly obtained 
by an admixture of several kinds of tea. The leading- 
idea in this selection is that ordinary Congou is prepared 
from the lower and older leaves, and has therefore a 
rougher and more earthy although a stronger flavour 
than the Souchong or Kaisow, whilst the Souchong does 
not always possess the depth of colour and strength of 
body which many deem to be desirable. 

Oolong is a black tea, but yields a very light- coloured 
infusion, with a penetrating flavour, so that it is rather 
a green tea in quality, and is more adapted to use as a 
mixing tea than to be used alone. In many respects it 
is practically similar to some of the Indian teas, as, 
for example, those of Darjeeling. 

Pekoe is a fine tea as respects its flavour, but is not of 
full body, and is therefore rarely used alone. Flowery 
Pekoe contains a proportion of the flower of the plant, 
and is said to have the most delicate flavour, and is 
well fitted for use as a mixing tea. 

Scented teas are never used alone, but are mixed 
with stronger teas. A tea drinker who appreciates the 
natural flavour of tea Avould not select them, but if he 
did drink them he would not mix them with a good 
common tea; whilst others may prefer to hide the 



TEA, COFFEE, CHICORY, ETC. 345 

quality of a fine tea by mixing it with a flavour wliieh 
does not belong to tea. If mixed with fine teas, they 
should be used very sparingly. 

But whatever may be the kind of tea selected it is 
desirable that the leaf should be closely rolled, and that 
there should be little or no stalk with it. There is no 
disadvantage in using broken leaves provided they are 
of fine quality and can be obtained economically. 

The use of tea should be regulated by weigh fc, for it 
is well known that bulk and weight are not convertible 
terms. Thus a finely rolled Gunpowder will give a 
far greater weight to bulk than a loosely rolled Oolong 
or Oongou ; and equal bulks, even if the qualities were 
equal, would give very different infusions. In 1861, 
when discussing the subject at length at the Society of 
Arts, I prepared the following table to show the rela- 
tion of bulk to weight : — 

No. 131. 



Blach Teas. 





Weight of a 


Number of such 


Kiiid of Tea 


moderate sized 


spoonsful to the 




caddy spoonful 


pound 




Grains 




Oolong . 


. 39 . 


. 179 


Congou, inferior . . . 52 . 


138 


Flowery Pekoe 


. 62 . 


. 113 


Souchong 


. 70 . 


. 100 


Congou, fine 


. 87 . 
Green Teas. 


. 80 


Hyson skin 


. 53 . 


. 120 


Twankay . 


. 70 . 


. 100 


Hj'son 


. 66 . 


. 106 


Fine Imperial 


. 90 . 


. 77 


Scented Caper 


. 103 . 


. 68 


Fine Gunpowde 


r . . . 123 . 


. 57 



Hence a given bulk of Gunpowder will be more than 
three times heavier than the same of Oolong, and twice 



346 LIQUID FOODS. 

as lieavy as of Flowery Pekoe. It is not probable that 
for ordinary use tea will be taken by weight, yet even 
then it is desirable to remember the simple rule that 
closely rolled are much heavier than loosely rolled 
teas ; but when tea is made in very large quantities it 
is more convenient to use it by weight. 

The chemical composition of tea consists, in 100 parts, 
of a crystallisable salt, called theine, 2 to 8, casein 15, 
gum 18, sugar 3, tannin 26-25, starch, aromatic oil 
0*75, fat 4, vegetable fibre 20, mineral substances 5, 
and water 5. The quantity of theine is not usually so 
great as 3 per cent., yet it is stated that it has been 
found so high as even 6 per cent, in some green teas. 
It has the following formula : — 

No. 132. 
C. 16. H. 10. N. 4. 0. 2 + H2 0. 

The nutritive value of tea is therefore small if we use 
it simply as an infusion, for if we take a fairly good 
tea, and carry out the rule of a spoonful for each 
person and one for the pot, we shall have only, say, 100 
grai^s of tea ; and as the active principle or theine is 
only 3 per cent., and is composed of 28-83 per cent, of 
nitrogen, it follows that we should obtain less than one 
grain of nitrogen, which is a quantity quite inappre- 
ciable as nutritive matter. If the leaves be eaten, as in 
Tartary, they would still yield less than a quarter of an 
ounce of matter, of which the vegetable fibre to the 
amount of one-fifth would be indigestible. 

We must not therefore regard tea as a nutrient in the 
sense of supplying material to maintain structure or 
generate heat by its own decomposition; but tea is 
nevertheless a very valuable article of diet, as all infer 
from experience, and as has been proved by direct ex- 
periments on the vital functions. 



rof*ce PaobS-^z. 



Tew 

Svugarimk 




TEA, COFFEE, CHICORY, ETC. 347 

I performed a very extended series of experiments 
on myself and others, which proved that tea excites 
vital actions, and is particularly a respiratory stimulant. 
These were published in the 'Philosophical Trans- 
actions ' of 1859 ; and as the subject is an important 
one, I propose to cite the chief results with the illus- 
trations, in the form of Diagram, No. 133. 

1. As to the Carbonic Acid evolved in respiration. 

1. One hundred grains of the finest black tea gave a 
maximum increase of 0-87 grain and 1*72 grain per 
minute in 50 and 71 minutes on two persons. 

2. Fifty grains gave to four persons maxima of in- 
crease of 1-08, 1-38, 2-58, 1-6, 2-0, and 0*69 grains per 
minute, under different experiments. 

3. One hundred grains of the finest green tea, drank 
when cold, gave maxima of increase of 0*9, 2*58, and 
0-64 grains per minute on three persons. 

4. Twenty-five grains of green tea, drank when 
cold, and after having been infused several hours, and 
repeated every quarter of an hour, for five doses, gave 
an average increase of 1*2 and. a maximum increase of 
1*8 grain per minute. The total increase, as shown 
by ten observations, was no less than 193 grains ; and 
at the close of the experiment the increase continued at 
the rate of 54 grains per hour. 

5. "When 150 grains of black tea, infused in one pint 
of water, were taken, and the whole carbonic acid was 
collected for 65 minutes, it was shown that there had 
been an excess of 51*35 grains evolved, which was not 
more than one-fourth of the total increase when the tea 
had been divided into repeated doses. 

6. When we took 100 grains of black tea, and the 
whole carbonic acid was collected during 1 hour and 
60 minutes, the total increase was 70-40 grains. 



/&/--c# A«/ J'^7 



NM55. 



1B5B. 



Tea. 



30 31 

Ttjv Tm, SOgn 

A.M.JuM,S A.M.Ap'tr 



32 



33 



T*a/ 









34 

Tea- bladcj JSCyv 



35 



S e r i e s . 

36 37 M 






tSGnjuU-UtltBoemjr 
\.hmr Snmfs 






rfibg^ £^^ 3;^^^ atoai ^:#?^i^ "^ayxa^ife)^^^ ^ 




lea fnn^JeatfW 



Tea Hack 



6f' 

S.J 



.--.9 . r 






39 



S.J*. 



ififlKiMarx 



42 



JJH. JUy n. 

..en. sr 
a. i" 



43 
(bcoatx. 



348 LIQUID FOODS. 

2. As to the Volume of Air inspired. 

There was an average increase in the quantity of air 

inspired in every experiment but one. Thus pursuing 

the order of the above-mentioned experiments, 

In No. 1, the quantity was increased by 71 and 68 cubic 

inches per minute. 

„ 2, the increase was 34, 39, 50, 72, 95, and 26 

cubic inches per minute. 
„ 3, the average increase was 120 and 50 cubic 

inches. 
„ 4, the average increase was Q>Q cubic inches. 
„ 5, the maximum increase was 92 cubic inches. 
„ 6, the average increase was 47*5 cubic inches. 

3. As to the Depth of Inspiration. 

The rate of respiration either did not increase or was 
lessened; and as the vohime of air inspired was in- 
creased, the depth of inspiration was greater so that 
the increased vokime of air inspired at each inspiration 
varied from 3 to 10*6 cubic inches. With this increased 
depth, there was also a sense of greater freedom of 
respiration. 

4. As to the Rate of Pulsation. 

The rate of pulsation followed that of resj)iration, 
but in a less degree, and was either not increased or 
was slightly decreased. 

Hence, it was proved beyond all doubt that tea is a 
most powerful respiratory excitant. As it causes an 
evolution of carbon greatly beyond that which it sup- 
plies, it follows that it must powerfully promote those 
vital changes in food which ultimately produce the car- 
bonic acid to be evolved. Instead, therefore, of supply- 
ing nutritive matter, it causes the assimilation and 
transformation of other foods. 



TEA, COFFEE, CHICORY, ETC. 349 

The effect was not proportionate to the quantity of 
tea taken, and in this respect it is analogous to the 
action of a ferment. The effect of repeated small doses 
was much greater than that of one large one, and jet 
even in that class of experiment the greatest increase 
in both the quantity of air inspired and carbonic acid 
evolved occurred in the earlier half of the enquiry. 

The sense of ease in respiration and increase of 
general comfort after taking tea is well known, as is 
also the fact that tea tends to induce perspiration, and 
thereby to cool the body. 

Hence, in reference to nutrition, we may say that tea 
increases waste, since it promotes the transformation of 
food without supplying nutriment, and increases the 
loss of heat without supplying fuel, and it is therefore 
especially adapted to the wants of those who usually 
eat too much, and after a full meal, when the process 
of assimilation should be quickened, but is less adapted 
to the poor and ill fed, and during fasting. 

To take tea before a meal is as absurd as not to take 
it after a meal, unless the sj^stem be at all times replete 
with nutritive material ; and the fashion of the day of 
taking tea at about five o'clock can only be defended 
when there has been a hearty lunch at one or two o'clock, 
and an anticipated dinner or supper at seven or eight 
o'clock. For those to take tea before dinner Avho eat 
little or no lunch, must be so far injurious and tend to 
promote irritability of the stomach. 

As a matter of comfort, however, it is to be observed 
that a cup of tea is in health always refreshing, and, to 
those accustomed to its use, always welcome. 

It may, also, be added that, whilst tea promotes 
assimilation^ there is no ground for believing that it 
promotes the digestion of food in healthy persons, and 
therefore it is^ not usual to take it with, but after, a 



'350 LIQUID FOODS. 

principal meal. Indeed, but few jDersons could tolerate 
a tea-dinner as a daily habit, however agreeable it may 
be as a change of diet ; and by the universal consent of 
mankind, tea is less fitted to accompany meat than 
starch and fat. 

I have not referred to the effect of tea on the mind, 
because it is not capable of proof by weight and mea- 
sure ; but it is an action which is universally admitted, 
and is quite in keeping with the action of tea upon 
the respiratory tract as a respiratory excitant. There 
can be no doubt that under certain circumstances it 
quickens the intellect, both in thought and imagination, 
and takes away the tendency to sleep, so that in expe- 
riments which we made hourly through three days and 
nights, tea taken twice during the night prevented any 
desire for sleep. This is not always the same on any 
person, neither is it uniform on different persons, nor 
does it accurately correspond with the quantity of tea 
taken. Moreover, it appears to be measured by the 
mode of cooking the tea, so that a strong infusion 
which has been poured off the leaves and kept hot for 
a considerable period has greater effect. 

The Chinese- say that it tends to ' clear away impu- 
rities, to drive off drowsiness, and to remove or prevent 
headache ;' and it is familiarly known all over the world 
as ' the cup which cheers and not inebriates.' 

It also appears as if muscular activity were increased 
at the same time, for there is a greater readiness for 
and ease in making exertion after taking tea ; but if it 
be indulged, a greater sense of exhaustion follows. 

It has been affirmed that tea causes waste of mus- 
cular tissue, because in certain experiments its use 
appeared to be followed by a diminished excretion of 
urea, but such is not a correct inference. 

Another action of tea, which is of great im- 



TEA, COFFEE, CHICORY, ETC. 351 

portance, is thut upon the skin and mncous meni- 
branes, which we pointed out in 1858. To have a dry 
state of the mouth or a dry skin as the result of 
taking tea would be a great anomaly, and quite op- 
posed to experience : whilst a moist skin and a moist 
state of the mouth are exceedingly common. The pro- 
duction of perspiration by a cup of hot tea is a fami- 
liar fact, and the relief to the sense of heat in hot 
weather is well known. This may be attributed to the 
hot water with which the tea is taken; but however 
true that may be in particular instances, it is equally 
true when cold tea is taken, and tlie effect is attributable 
to the tea as well as to the fluid. The increased action 
of the skin, by causing an increase in the sensible or 
insensible perspiration, renders a large quantity of heat 
near the surface latent, by converting fluid into vapour, 
and thus powerfully cools the skin. 

This action varies with the state and requirements 
of the system in relation to atmospheric conditions, and 
will be beneficial or otherwise as it is desirable to lessen 
the heat of the body and to increase the sensibility 
of the skin ; but it will clearly be the least useful to 
those who have thin, active and sensitive skins, to the 
ill fed and feeble, and in cold weather. The problem is 
not, however, a simple one, for it involves the questions 
of the amount and kind of other foods taken, in addi- 
tion to those of constitution, clothing, occupation, and 
temperature and moisture of the atmosphere. 

There is a growing belief that strong infusions of tea 
may act as a narcotico-irritant poison, and Dr. Arlidge 
has very recently affirmed that the quantity of tea 
which is consumed by women of the working-classes 
has an influence which is injurious in that direction. 
This lends importance to the subject, and demands some 
consideration. 



352 LIQUID FOODS. 

The perceptible effects of full doses of tea wliicli are 
generally, if not universally, admitted are : — 

1. A sense of wakefulness. 

2. Clearness of mind and activity of thought and 

imagination. 

3. Increased disposition to make muscular exertion. 

4. Reaction, with a sense of exhaustion in the morn- 

ing following the preceding efforts and in pro- 
portion to them. 

The first may be due to direct action upon the cere- 
bral system, which can be measured only by the inability 
to sleep ; but it is associated with, if not due to in- 
creased respiratory action, and it should be borne in 
mind that subsidence of respiration is necessary to health- 
ful sleep. The fourth naturally results from the three 
preceding, for if there have been increased nervous action 
and loss of sleep, a sense of exhaustion must follow. 
But it has not been shown that these are evidences, 
or that there are any other evidences, of a poison in the 
action of tea, and we should therefore pause before 
we admit the truth of the assertion. 

There never was a period when strong tea was used 
so generally by the middle and higher classes as at pre- 
sent, and therefore we should find abundant illustra- 
tions of the evil tendency in those classes if it exists. 

It is assumed that the poison, so called, is the theine, 
or the peculiar alkaloid of tea ; but experiments have 
not shown that it acts as a poison in even larger pro- 
portions than can be obtained from the ordinary use of 
the infusion. If we assume that there is three per cent, 
of theine in tea, and that half an ounce of tea is used 
for the preparation of a single cup, as is now sometimes 
the case, there will be two and a quarter grains of theine 
taken by the rich man with comparative impunity ; but 
the labourer's wife uses one small tea-spoonful, or, say, 



TEA, COFFEE, CHICOEY, ETC. 353 

sixty grains, for a whole meal, and if she drank that 
quantity thrice a day, she would take less than that 
which is consumed by her wealthier neighbour in one 
strong cup after dinner. 

It is now, moreover, the practice to allow the infu- 
sion to draw for a longer time than formerly, so that 
there is time to extract both the theine and the essential 
oil, and it does not appear that in this respect there is 
now much difference in the practice of the different 
classes of society. At the same time, we have often 
noticed that taking tea at certain Societies, where it 
was prepared of good strength and kept hot for half an 
hour or longer, the effect in maintaining wakefulness 
seemed to be greater than when home-made tea was 
drank, and it might thence be inferred that with longer 
brewing there was more theine extracted, and with more 
theine there was more wakefulness. This is, however, 
mere theory ; but the matter merits attention, with a 
view to a complete exhibition of the effect of tea, yet 
for practical purposes it suffices to adopt the usual 
procedure. 

The question as it is associated with poverty is a very 
complex one, involving, first, the quantity of fluid taken 
at a meal and per diem ; second, the heat of the fluid ; 
third, the insufiiciency of good solid food in relation 
both to the wants of the body and the quantity of fluid 
drank, besides the anxieties and the thousand causes 
tending towards ill health in the wives of our poorest 
classes. 

Our experiments have sufficed to show how tea may 
be injurious if taken with deficient food, and thereby 
exaggerate the evils of the poor; but they have not 
shown that tea is a poison even to the rich, much less 
to the poor. That tea is frequently associated with in- 
digestion is well known ; but this is not attributable to 



354 LIQUID FOODS. 

the theine, and the indigestion more commonly originates 
in other causes, and may be maintained by the use of 
tea. It is not evidence of a poison. 

The conclusions at which we arrived after our re- 
searches in 1858 were that tea should not be taken with- 
out food, unless after a full meal ; or with insufficient 
food ; or by the young or very feeble, and that its es- 
sential action is to waste the system or consume food, 
by promoting vital action whicb it does not support, 
and they have not been disproved by any subsequent 
scientific researches. 

The foregoing experiments refer to tea when taken 
alone, as it is in China and some other tea-producing 
countries ; but it is customary in all other countries to 
add something to the infusion. Thus in England we 
add sugar and milk or cream, all of which tend to 
increase the respiratory action of the tea, whilst they 
offer nourishment to the body. Hence whilst tea alone 
may not offer any appreciable quantity of nutritive 
material, the addition of sugar and milk may make a 
cup of tea into a true food. 

The effect of taking 50 grains of black tea with milk 
and sugar was to give us a maximum increase of 2-96 
and 2-56 grains of carbonic acid in the exposed air, and 
78 cubic inches of air per minute, and thus to produce 
a greater effect than tea alone. 

It is the practice in Eussia to use lemon juice instead 
of milk or cream, and to do so does not injure the 
tea. Thus in a series of twenty-five experiments with 
100 grains of black tea and 30 grains of citric acid the 
maximum increase of carbonic acid varied from 0*88 to 
1*86 grain per minute; but there was greater variation 
in the quantity of air inspired. Opposed as sugar and 
vegetable acids are in taste, their effect is the same, for 
they are both ultimately changed into carbonic acid. 



TEA, COFFEE, CHICORY, ETC. 355 

The addition of a caustic alkali destroyed the respi- 
ratory action of tea and made it worthless, so that 40 
minims of liquor potassse added to 100 grains of tea 
infused in 7 ounces of water gave no increase in the 
carbonic acid evolved. It is, moreover, a familiar fact, 
that the addition of a large quantity of soda ' spoils 
the tea,' both as to flavour and effect. 

The mode of preparation of tea for the table has 
always elicited discussion, and particularly as the drinker 
prefers body to flavour, or vice versa. The aim should 
be to extract all the aroma and the dried juices con- 
taining theine with only so much of the substance of 
the leaf as may give fulness, or, as it is called, body to 
the infusion. If the former be defective, the respiratory 
action of the tea and the agreeableness of the flavour 
will be lessened, whilst if the latter be in excess there 
will be a degree of bitterness which will mask the 
aromatic flavour. As the theine is without flavour, its 
presence or absence cannot be determined by the taste 
of the tea. 

All agree, therefore, that the tea should be cooked in 
water, and that the w^ater should be at the boiling point 
when used; but there is not an agreement as to the 
duration of the infusing process. If the tea be scented 
or artificially flavoured, the aroma may be extracted 
in two minutes, but the proper aromatic oil of the tea 
requires at least five minutes for its removal. Up to 
this point all agree that the temperature of the water 
should be kept near to the boiling point, and that if 
the water be allowed to cool materially, the infusion will 
be weak in all its constituents, but it has nob been held 
desirable to boil the tea even for five minutes lest the 
aromas should be dissipated. 

A further prolongation of the process of infusion with, 
water at a high temperature will extract a larger pro- 



356 LIQUID FOODS. 

portion of the theine, on whicli its respiratory action 
depends, and of the tannin which gives bitterness, and 
hence the effect will be different according to the class 
of tea. If verj fine young leaves be infused, the pro- 
longed action will have the good effect of extracting a 
large quantity of theine and not much tannin, and is 
therefore very desirable, and indeed essential, in obtaiii- 
ing the best infusion ; but if older leaves be taken, the 
tannin will be increased, and spoil the flavour of tho 
tea. If flavour is to be considered, it is clear that an 
inferior tea should not be infused so long as a fine tea. 

The rule should be to procure the fine thin leaf, 
whether green or black, and infuse it from ten to fifteen 
minutes ; but if common tea be selected the infusion 
should not stand more than five to ten minutes. In all 
cases the pot should be kept quite warm and covered 
with a cosy. 

In some experiments which we have made it appears 
that tea of the best quality, in both aromatic oil and 
theine, is obtained by putting the leaves into ordinary 
cold water, in a covered vessel, and allowing it to 
remain until the water boils, when it is ready for use. 
The effect will vary with the duration of the heating 
process before the boiling point is gained, and the 
period should not be less than ten minutes. This is a 
very convenient method when the water is boiled by gas 
or a spirit lamp on the table. When the tea is ready it 
should be passed through a strainer, such as is usually 
suspended from the spout of the tea-pot in Germany, if 
it is desired to separate it entirely from the leaves. 

The kind of water is believed to have great influence 
over the process, and soft water is preferred. The term 
soft is not intended to imply the presence of an alkali, as 
soda softens water, but the absence, or moderation in 
quantity, of that whicli hardens water, viz., salts of 



TEA, COFFEE, CHICOBY, ETC. 357 

lime. So far the best would be distilled water, but 
it is not found in practice that it makes agreeable tea, 
because of the absence of air and minerals. The 
Chinese direction is ' take it from a running stream, 
that from hill springs is the best, river water is the 
next, and well water is the worst' — that is to say, take 
water well mixed with air. Hence avoid hard water, 
but prefer tap water, or running water, to well water. 
It is the practice of a good housewife in the country to 
send to the brook for water to make tea, whilst she will 
use the well water for drinking. 

Tea-tasters use only water which has been newly 
boiled, and this agrees with the practice of the Chinese, 
for they say ' the fire must be lively and clear, but the 
water must not be boiled too hastily. At first it begins 
to sparkle like crabs' eyes, then somewhat like fishes' 
eyes, and lastly it boils up like pearls innumerable, 
springing and waving about.' 

Do not therefore keep the kettle boiling long before 
the tea is made, but have fresh water put into the 
kettle, and use it directly it is boiled. 

The addition of a little carbonate of soda to the 
water is a very general practice, and is doubtless useful 
with hard Avater, since the hardness retards the ex- 
traction of tannin and colouring matter, and the infu- 
sion appears weak. If the water be sufficiently soft and 
boiling, and the tea be ke]3t hot for ten to fifteen 
minutes, this addition is not necessary, unless the 
drinker wishes to have a bitter and black infusion — or, 
in other words, to spoil the tea — and when used, it 
should never exceed five grains in quantity. 

Other Kinds op Tea. 

Numerous beverages are used under the name of tea, 
besides that which we have now discussed, and although 



353 LIQUID FOODS. 

fchej are not in use in England, or in any English- 
speaking country, it is desirable to briefly refer to them. 

That which is the most generally nsed is known as 
Mate, or Paraguay t6a, and is prepared from the Brazilian 
holly [Ilex Paraguay ensis). It grows wild, and is not 
cultivated for the production of this article of food, but 
is regarded as valuable, and the right to take the leaves 
is sold by the proprietors. 

It is found in three qualities according to the age 
and size of the leaf. The first is the choicest, and con- 
sists of the unexpanded buds; the second of the full- 
grown leaf, with the exception of the woody fibre in the 
vascular system ; and the third of the whole leaf roughly 
roasted, by placing the branches over a fire until the 
leaves become brittle, and may be readily beaten off the 
branches. It has not the delicacy of flavour, whilst it 
has more bitterness and astringency than the China tea, 
but it possesses an aromatic oil, gluten, tannin, and a 
proportion of theine. 

It is prepared for the table as an infusion, and is 
flavoured by lemon juice and burnt sugar, and, as it 
is cheap and is drunk at everj^ meal, about as much is 
consumed by a working man or woman in a day as 
the same class of persons would drink of China tea in 
a week. As with many other fluids in hot climates, it is 
commonly sucked through a reed, straw, or tube. 

The true action of this substance has not been ex- 
perimentally determined, but it appears to be more nar 
cotic than Chinese tea, and to resemble cofi'ee leaves. 

Coffee leaves are nsed for the preparation of a 
beverage in Sumatra and other countries, and have been 
imported into this country for the same purpose. They 
are rapidly dried, and being then brittle, easily break. 
They contain a proportion of caffein, which is a sub- 
stance analogous to theine. 



TEA, COFFEE, CHICOEY, ETC. 359 

By the favour of Mr. Hanburj, I was enabled to de- 
termine the action of the leaves upon the respiratory 
function, but the results were opposed to those of tea 
and coffee, and showed that coffee leaves are not respi- 
rator}^ excitants. 

I infused half an ounce of the dried leaves in 10 ounces 
of boiling water, and found that there was a maximum 
decrease of 0*84 and 0-89 grain of carbonic acid in the 
expired air, and 25 and 51 cubic inches of air inspired 
in myself and friend. The rate of pulsation and re- 
spiration fell. Hence there is no probability of their 
supplanting either coffee or tea in the duty which these 
substances perform in the animal economy, but they may 
have valuable medicinal qualities in lowering the respi- 
ratory action, and be of service in climates hotter than 
our own (No. 133). 

Coffee. 

Having entered at length into the uses of tea, I do 
not deem it needful to occupy a similar amount of space 
on the subject of coffee, for in their chief actions they 
are analogous foods. 

The coffee plant {Coffcea Arabica) was originally a 
native of Arabia and Abyssinia, but has been natural- 
ised over a large part of the tropics, including Bourbon, 
Berbice, Demerara, Sumatra, Java, the West Indies, 
Martinique, Ceylon, Batavia, the Brazils, Saint Domingo, 
and Ethiopia, and grows well in the hothouses of this 
country. 

It requires a deep good soil, with jjlenty of moisture, 
and a temperature not lower than 65°, and is usually 
grown on the hill sides, very much after the manner of 
the tea plant. It belongs to the Cinchonacese, or the 
order of plants which produce the Peruvian bark, and 
although it has several congeners, it is the only species 
from which good coffee beans can be obtained. 



3 GO LIQUID FOODS. 

The plant is very prolific, for it remains in flower 
during eight months of the year, and produces a suc- 
cession of crops of fruit, so that there are usually three 
harvests annually, but at the same time the fruit is in 
all stages of development, and the picking of it requires 
care. It is pruned so as to remain about six feet high, 
by which process it throws out a large quantity of 
branches at its lower part, and produces more fruit. 

The fruit is called a bean or berry, but the former is 
the more correct expression, and is a corruption of the 
Arabic word, ' bunn.' The beans are in pairs, which are 
placed face to face, and enclosed in a hard coriaceous 
membrane., and surrounded by a pulpy pericarp. The 
seed itself is hard and tough, so that it requires the 
use of machinery in breaking the pericarp and freeing 
it from the coriaceous covering, and is at length cleaned 
by the process of winnowing. 

The following graphic description of coffee planting 
in Ceylon is extracted from the ' Illustrated London 
News ' of June 22, 1872 :— 

' Coffee planting is a tedions and expensive branch of agri- 
culture to invest in at first. From the day the planter claims his 
first bit of jungle for the reception of the coffee seeds which are 
to form the plants for his plantations, until the first account of 
sales from England reach him, a period of five years will have 
elapsed. The first operation is to cut down the heavy forest. 
About 100 acres is usually the extent undertaken in the first 
year. After the fallen trees have lain for three months, and 
have been thoroughly dried by the scorching sun, a match is 
applied, and terrific is the conflagration that follows. When 
the ground is well cleared, the operation of lining is begun. A 
long rope, with tags of white cloth at every sixth foot, is 
stretched as close to the ground as the blackened trunks of the 
old forest trees will permit. A peg is placed at each tag, and 
when the first line is pegged off a coolie at each end of the 
rope moves off to the right or left, and measures a distance of 



TEA, COFFEE, CHICORY, ETC. 361 

6 feet with a wand. Pegs are again laid so as to have a peg 
in every 6 feet square, and the whole field is thus lined off. 
Men are now sec to dig a small pit, about 18 inches diameters 
and the same in depth, at each peg. When the rains set in, 
these pits are filled with the fine surface soil, and the young 
coffee plants are then dibbled in and firmly trodden down by 
the coolies' bare feet. The operation of planting is now com- 
plete, and the planter has to wait patiently many months 
without seeing much symptom of growth in his plants. The 
work of tracing roads^and erecting permanent buildings may 
occupy his time and help to break the monotony of a jungle life, 
far away from home and friends. 

In the third year the plants (or trees, as they are now 
called) are fit for topping — that is to say, the'plant is cut down 
to a height of from 3 to 4^ feet, according to the elevation, 
whether exposed to wind, or sheltered. This is a convenient 
height for the coolies to have full command of the plants in 
gathering the fruit, and in pruning the bushes after the crop. 
In the height of the crop the fruit is taken to the pulping 
house at midday and again in the evening. The task given to 
the coolie is to bring a bushel of berries at each collection. 
Off good-bearing coffee trees some quick hands wdll gather as 
much as four bushels a day, for which they of course get extra 
pay. The cherries are very much like our own cherries in 
England, and it would puzzle most people to distinguish a 
heap of coffee cherries from the edible fruit. Instead of the 
Btone, however, as in our cheriy, the coffee fruit contains two 
seeds. These coffee beans are enveloped in a thick leathery 
skin, which gets the name of parchment. After the thick 
pulp has been removed, the seeds are left in a cistern till such 
time as fermentation sets in ; the mucilage is easily washed off, 
and the coffee is then in a fit state to be carried to the drying- 
ground. 

The drying of the coffee is a most important process. A 
shower of rain wdll discolour the bean, and depreciate its value 
much. A constant watch must therefore be kept for the signs 
of rain clouds, and dreadful is the noise and huiTy when such 
appear and threaten in a few minutes to break over the 



362 LIQUID FOODS. 

precious parchment coffee on the barbacues. When thoroughly 
dried the "parchment" is put into the bushel bags and de- 
spatched to Colombo. It there undergoes another drying pre- 
paratory to being relieved of the husk, which is done by being 
placed in circular troughs, where heavy rollers touch the 
coffee sufficiently to break the skin without injuring the bean. 
The coffee is then sized — that is, the large beans, medium- 
sized beans, and small are separated. This is done for the 
sake of having an equable roasting. A small bean would be 
burnt into charcoal by the time a large one was sufficiently 
roasted. This is a very imjDortant point, and much care is 
given to it by the Colombo merchant, who undertakes this 
part of the preparation for market. 

The quality of the coffee depends very much on the district 
and the elevation at which it has been grown. The greater the 
elevation the finer the quality. Maturatte has long been famous 
for the superior quality of its coffee, and the plantations are 
all upwards of 4,000 feet above sea level. The climate is 
delightful, and most of our home flowers and vegetables grow 
remarkably well.' 

Ceylon sends us annually more than a hundred million 
pounds of coffee, but of this quantity one-half finds its 
way to the Continent. The consumption in this country 
is about 1 lb. per head, whilst in Holland and Germany 
it is 141bs. 

The finest coffee is that obtained from Arabia Felix, 
known as Mocha. The bean is smaller and yellower, 
and when properly prepared has a finer and fuller aroma 
than other kinds. A good quality is also produced in 
Bourbon, whilst the Ceylon and Saint Domingo j^roduct 
is less esteemed. 

It is common in certain places to make an infusion of 
the raw coffee, but it is almost universally roasted, and, 
unlike tea, has its aromatic qualities generated in the 
process. The object of roasting is, therefore, not only 
to render it friable, so that it may be readily ground. 



TEA, COFFEE, CHICORY, ETC. 363 

but to create or develope this aromatic volatile oil, and 
care is required to limit tlie operation so that the good 
effect of the latter may not be destroyed by burning 
the substance of the bean. It is effected by placing a 
quantity of it in an iron cylinder, which is slowly turned 
round over a fire so that all the beans may in turn be 
exposed to the same heat. The natural colour is a dull 
pale green, but it acquires three colours in roasting 
according to the degree, namely, yellowish-brown, 
chestnut- brown, and black. The first is not considered 
suflBcient, and induces a loss of 12|^ per cent, in their 
weight, but the loss is increased with the chestnut-brown 
to 20 per cent., and when black to about 23 per cent. 
112 lbs. of raw when fairly roasted yield 92 lbs. of 
roasted coffee. 

Hence the proportion of the chemical elements vary 
as the drying, but that of raw coffee is stable and as 
follows, per cent. : — 

No. 13 i. 



Caffeine . 


0-8 


Cafleo-tannic and Caffeic 1 ^.a 
acids . . . i 


Casein or Legume n . 


13-0 


Gum and Sugar 


55-5 


Woody fibre . . .34-0 


Fat and Volatile oil . 


130 


Water . . . .12-0 


Mineral matter . 


6-7 





Roasted coffee contains 1 per cent, of caffeine and a small 
proportion of volatile oil and tannin, and if it be roasted 
with butter as is common on the European continent, 
some portion of fat will remain. Schroeder found in 
highly roasted coffee 12^ per cent, of extract possessing 
much of the properties of raw coffee, 5*7 per cent, of 
an oxygenated extract, 2 of a fatty matter and resin, 
10*4 of blackish brown gum, and 69 of burnt vegetable 
fibre. When roasted coffee is distilled in water the 
aromatic principle is obtained. 

The proper degree of roasting is that of a chestnut- 



364 LIQUID FOODS. 

brovvn, and Tvlien the colour approaches to black it gives 
a burnt drj flavour to the infusion. The colour varies, 
however, a little with the original colour of the bean, 
which itself varies from a whitish or pale yellow in the 
Bourbon coffee to the yellow colour of East Indian, and 
the greenish colour of Mocha and Jamaica. 

The largest beans are those from Surinam, and the 
smallest are obtained from Yemen in Arabia Felix. 

In preparing it for the table it is requisite to have it 
freshly roasted and finely ground, and to pour boiling 
water over it. There is some difference of opinion as 
to the advantage of boiling it, and there can be no 
doubt that when mixed with chicory, as on the Con- 
tinent, boiling for a short time improves its flavour, 
and produces a better infusion. Such, however, is not 
the practice here, except so far as to boil the infusion 
immediately before it is drawn, but it is well understood 
that the water should be kept as near the boiling-point 
as possible. 

The proper period of maceration is not fixed with 
absolute precision, but varies from five to fifteen minutes 
in England, and is longer on the Continent. 

The modes of preparation are almost infinite, but all 
combine two principles, namely, to extract the greatest 
amount of aroma and body, and to render the fluid 
quite clear and separate from the grounds. 

I have seen exceedingly good coffee prepared simply 
in a jug which is covered and placed near the fire for 
ten or fifteen minutes, but care is required to prevent 
grounds from passing over with the last portions of the 
infusion. This was the rude, buo not altogether unsatis- 
factory, method adopted by our grandmothers, and is 
very common in many new countries. 

A modification of this is the common tin coffee-pot 
without a strainer, which is placed upon the fire and 



TEA, COFFEE, CHICORY, ETC. 365 

out of which the coffee is poured, but I do not think it 
equal to the older procedure. 

The French cafetiere has its special advantage 
almost exclusively in its power to produce a very clear 
infusion, whilst Ash's Kaffee-kann, by the use of a jacket, 
which is first filled with boiling water, keeps the water 
hot and produces a strong infusion, and at the same 
time it can be placed upon the fire to boil the coffee for 
a minute before it is served. The infusion produced by 
it is strong and clear. 

Various hydraulic coffee-pots have been invented with 
a view to draw the hot water through the ground coffee, 
and thus to expose the whole of the latter to its influ- 
ences, whilst a clean infusion is obtained. Such as that 
patented and largely sold by Mr. Beard. 

Others, as the Yesuvian and the Yenefcian, addto this 
the application of heat, so tha.t the water is drawn 
through the coffee at a boiling temperature and excellent 
coffee is produced, but the method is not economical. 

I have regularly used Ash's Kaffee-kann for some 
years, and have found it a most effectual and economi- 
cal apparatus. 

Coffee, like tea, is a powerful respiratory excitant, and 
has a crystallised nitrogenous element called caffeine, 
very analogous to theine, upon which this action chiefly 
depends. 

A large series of experiments on the respiratory 
functions were made by me on this substance, as on tea. 
Of twenty-three experiments on myself and others there 
was from half an ounce of coffee an increase in the 
quantity of carbonic acid evolved of 0*98, 1*02, 0-9, 0*4, 
1-16 and 2*54 grains per minute at different times, 
whilst the quantity of air inspired was increased 40, 34, 
35 and 84 cubic inches per minute with the same 
experiments. .Three-quarters of an ounce of coffee did 



366 LIQUID FOODS. 

not give a greater increase, but the actual increase was 
0*68 and 1'68 grain of carbonic acid and 28 and 54 
cubic inches of air per minute. (No. 133.) 

There was, however, this difference in the effect of 
coffee and tea, that the former caused an increased rate 
of respiration, so that the depth of inspiration was but 
slightly increased, and there was an increase in the 
rate of pulsation. 

There is also another difference in the action of these 
allied substances, viz., that coffee does not increase 
the vapourising action of the skin, but decreases it, and 
therefore dries that organ. I pointed out long ago 
that whilst both tea and coffee agree in increasing the 
respiratory changes, tea by increasing the action of the 
skin lessens the force of the circulation, cools the body, 
and does not cause congestion of any of the mucous 
membranes, and particularly that of the bowels; whilst 
coffee, by diminishing the action of the skin, lessens also 
the loss of heat of the body, but increases the vis a tergo, 
and therefore the heart's action and the fulness of the 
pulse, and excites the mucous membranes. In one of 
our experiments, after having taken an infusion made 
from two ounces of coffee, we fell to the floor and 
remained unconscious for some minutes, the result, as 
was subsequently shown, of a very large quantity of 
fluid having been thrown into the intestines by which 
the volume of the blood in circulation was suddenly 
reduced. 

The conditions, therefore, under which coffee may be 
taken are very different from those suited to tea. It 
is more fltted than tea for the poor and feeble. It is 
also more fltted for breakfast, inasmuch as the skin is 
then active and the heart's action feeble ; whilst in good 
health and with sufficient food it is not needful after 
dinner, but if then drank should be taken soon after the 
meal. Hence in certain respects tea and coffee are 



TEA, COFFEE, CHICOEY, ETC. 367 

antidotes of each other, and we Iniow that thej are not 
taken indiscriminately, although in a chief action they 
are interchangeable. 

Coffee also has been said to lessen metamorphosis of 
animal tissues, bebause the emission of urea was lessened, 
but this implies that urea is a measure of tissue change, 
which cannot now be supported by facts. This intro- 
duces one of the most interesting discoveries of the da}^, 
in which my own researches have led the way by showing 
that the emission of carbonic acid by the lungs is the 
true measure of muscular exertion. I proved in my 
paper in the ' Phil. Trans.' for 1859, that even the 
movement of the hand could be measured by that 
standard ; whilst in my paper in the ' Phil. Trans.' for 
1862, I showed that the violent exertion of the tread- 
wheel caused scarcely an appreciable increase in the 
emission of urea, and supported the results simul- 
taneously obtained by Bischoff and Yoit in experiments 
on dogs. 

The discussion of this subject will be more fittingly 
pursued in the work on Dietaries ; and I shall here be 
content with simply indicating the change of basis on 
which the estimation of muscular waste must now be 
made. 

Coffee is an excitant of the nervous system, but not 
in the same degree as tea. It produces sleeplessness in 
many persons when it is taken at night, probably by 
exciting the heart's action, and preventing that fall 
which is natural at night, and requisite to permit sound 
sleep. I do not think that there is the same degree ot 
reaction after taking strong coffee as follows strong tea. 
It is needless to add, that none of these effects may 
be marked if the infusion be very weak, as is common 
among the poor, and in this respect it resembles very 
weak tea. 

Strong coffee is a valuable antidote in poisoning by 
\ 17 



368 LIQUID FOODS. 

opium ; and may be used as a corrective of the action 
of tea in persons whose skin is very active. 

The addition of milk, which is so universal, forms a 
more perfect food with coffee than Avith tea ; for both the 
former have the same kind of action on the skin and 
respiration, and therefore aid each other, whilst milk 
counteracts, in a degree, the action of tea upon the 
skin. 

The addition of chicory to coffee does not increase 
its action upon any part of the system, but rather 
lessens it, and can be a^pproved only as modifying the 
flavour of the coffee. 

The adulterations of unground coffee are not nu- 
merous. 

Chicory. 

Chicory {Cichorium intihus), with which coffee is, and 
has long been, mixed, both in this coinitry and on the 
Continent, is the product of a compound plant growing 
in all European countries, and now cultivated largel}" 
for this purpose. It is said to have little property in 
common with coffee, and to be useful only by giving 
colour and a certain body to the infusion of coffee ; but 
there can be no doubt that it possesses an aromatic oil, 
starch, sugar, nitrogenous substances, and salts ; and, 
however inferior to coffee, the direction of the action of 
both is the same (No. 183). 

We found in our experiments that half an ounce of 
chicory with 8 oz. of boiling water gave a maximum 
increase of 1-17 and 0*66 grain of carbonic acid, and 
27 and 42 cubic inches of air inspired per minute, in 
ourself and friend, whilst the depth of inspiration was 
increased almost as much as from tea. Hence, it can- 
not be regarded as valueless, and indeed the price at 
which it is sold shows that it is appreciated as a food. 

The root from which the powder is prepared is long 



TEA, COFFEE, CHICORY, ETC. 3G9 

and tapering, and, after having been cut into pieces, 
is roasted with fat, precisely as coiFee beans are roasted, 
until it is of a brown colour and sufficiently dry to be 
ground into powder. 

It is said to be much adulterated with roasted rye, and 
with substances which sometimes yield a disagreeable 
smell and flavour. 

Cocoa and Chocolate. 

These well-known substances are valuable foods, since 
they are not only allied to tea and coffee as respiratory 
excitants, but possess a large quantity of fat and other 
food materials. 

Chocolate is produced from the seed of the cocoa 
palm {Cacao Theohroma), the pods of the ground nut 
(Arachis hypogcea), the cacao shrub of Zanzibar, and from 
other sources. 

The seeds of the cacao are enclosed in a fruit some- 
what like a cucumber in size, and are extracted by 
burying the fruit in the earth until the pulpy matter 
becomes rotten, or by first fermenting the fruit and 
then extracting the seeds by hand and drying them in 
the sun. They are about the size of an almond, and 
when broken into small pieces are subjected to great 
pressure until they are reduced to a rough powder, after 
which they are mixed with sugar and rolled into a very 
thick paste, or into a very fine powder, called Chocolate. 

Cocoa nibs are the nuts roughly broken, and may be 
boiled in that state, but the mass is not so soluble as 
that which results from a more perfect system of pre- 
paration. 

The peculiar active principle of cocoa and chocolate 
is the same, viz., theobromine, which resembles theine 
and caffeine, and has for its formula C^ H^ IST'' 0^ 
There is also a very large proportion of oil or fat, which 
is the chief nutritive element. 



370 



LIQUID FOODS. 



The following is the analysis of the cacao bean from 
various localities by Tuchen (per cent.) : — 



No. 135. 





Surinam 


Caraccas 


Para 


Trinidad 


Theobromine . , 


0-56 


0-55 


0-66 


0-48 


Cacao, red . . , 


6-61 


6-18 


6-18 


6-22 


Cacao, butter 


36-97 


35-08 


34-48 


36-42 


Gluten. 


. 3-20 


3-21 


2-99 


3-15 


Starch .... 


0-55 


0-62 


0-28 


0-51 


Gum .... 


0-69 


1-19 


0-78 


061 


Extractive matter 


4-14 


6-22 


6-02 


5-48 


Humic acid . 


7-25 


9-28 


8-63 


9-25 


Cellulose . 


. 30-00 


28-66 


30-21 


2986 


Salts .... 


3-00 


2-91 


3-00 


2-98 


Water 


6-01 


5-58 


5-55 


4-88 



The fleshy part of the fruit is not used for the pre- 
paration of cocoa or chocolate, but is fermented a>nd a 
vinous liquor made from it. 

This substance in its action is less exciting to the 
nervous system than tea or coflFee, and at the same time 
it contains a much larger proportion of nutritive mate- 
rial. Moreover, its flavour is not lessened by the 
addition of milk, so that it may be boiled in milk onl}^ 
and thus produce a most agreeable and nutritious food. 
There are therefore many persons, states of system 
and circumstances, in which its use is to be preferred to 
either tea or coffee. 

It is essential when using cocoa nibs to boil them for 
many hours in water, but the prepared cocoa or choco- 
late is soluble in boiling water. 

So valuable a substance is liable to adulteration, and 
one of the most harmless is the admixture of starch or 
flour, but this may be readily detected by the form and 
figure of the starch (page 147). 

We have already referred to the admixture of sugar 
with prepared cocoas, and with sugar at 3JcZ. per lb., and 



TEA, COFFEE, CHICORY, ETC. 371 

cocoa at more than twice tliat sum, the admixture far 
more than repays the cost of manufacture. 

There are 3,934 grains of carbon and 140 grains of 
nitrogen in 1 lb. of unsweetened cocoa or chocolate. 



CHAPTER XXXYI. 

ALCOHOLS. 



We now approach the consideration of a class of sub- 
stances usually regarded as foods, of .perhaps greater 
importance in their effects upon a community than any 
other, and whilst they afford pleasure and health to 
some, give pleasure and disease to many, and both on 
the question of their right to be called foods and upon 
moral grounds, are driving civilised nations into two 
hostile camps. 

It is impossible on any occasion, when these agents 
are considered, to omit all reference to moral effects, 
and scarcely possible to doubt that the abuse of them 
by so many does not more than overbalance the good 
produced on many more ; but our space does not allow 
us to enter upon this branch of the subject, and, whilst 
entertaining strong views that a further limitation in 
their use would be a great advantage, we shall restrict 
our observations solely to the scientific and dietetic 
aspects of the subject. 

It is first necessary to insist upon the facts, that 
alcohol does not represent alcohols, and that alcohols 
cannot be regarded as a homogeneous class of fluids 
because they have one element in common. 

It seems strange that it should be necessary to insist 
upon the first statement, for with one element among 
many it is irrational to assume that it should give 



372 LIQUID FOODS. 

identical, nay even similar, characters to all, and 
more particularly when the experience of mankind in 
the use of that one element alone is almost absolutely 
nil. 

Alcohor alone is perhaps altogether out of the reach 
of the consumers of alcohols, since in the distillation of 
spirits of wine other products besides alcohol pass over ; 
but admitting that spirits of wine is sufficiently pure 
for our argument, it is not used by alcohol drinkers. 

The forms in which alcohol is prepared as food are 
almost infinite, but the^^ differ in flavour, strength, and 
composition, and each preparation might be reasonably 
expected to have its own special properties. Yet whilst 
all this is reasonable, and is admitted when asserted, it 
was not adverted to by scientific men until my experi- 
ments on the action of alcohols over the respiratory 
functions, in 1856-9, and is not now so generally 
allowed as it ought to be. It is true that a few acute 
observers, as Hogarth, had drawn a distinction between 
the inhabitants of Gin Lane and Beer Street, by which 
they had made it appear that the state of health and 
the appearance of the two classes were different. It 
had also been known that a brandy drinker in rum-pro- 
ducing countries found an earlier grave than the rum 
drinker. Rum had been selected as the spirit to be 
given to sailors, but the reason for it was perhaps not 
known. Was it cheaper or more readily attainable 
than gin ? No ; for gin costs scarcely more than half 
the price of rum, and is of home manufacture, whilst 
rum must be imported. Was it that the flavour was 
preferred to that of gin? If so the tastes of sailors 
differed from those of the spirit drinkers of large towns. 
Was it that rum had been j)roved to produce effects 
different from gin, or to be less injurious than gin? 
None of these had been proved, and yet the selection 



ALCOHOLS. 373 

was a right one, and based npon sound principles. The 
effects of gin differ from those of rum, and rum is far 
the less injurious agent of the two. 

In pursuing the subject, we shall adopt the usual 
classification of these substances, and consider in their 
order spirits, wine, ale, and other fermented drinks. 

Aedent Spirits. 

The chemical composition of anhydrous alcohol, is : 
carbon 52-66, Imlrogen 12-9, and oxygen 34*44 per 
cent., and is represented by the formula C^ Hg 0^. 

The proportion in which it exists in various spirits 
differs extremel3^ In its strongest distilled form it con- 
tains 10 per cent, of water ; but there is a legal standard 
of strength of spirits which is called proof, and consists 
of more water than alcohol, viz., 57*27 volumes of water 
to 49*5 volumes of alcohol, in 100 parts. The specific 
gravity of spirits of proof strength is 0*920, or twelve- 
thirteenths of an equal volume of distilled water 
at 62° F., and as the spirit increases, the specific 
gravity declines. Thus tables have been constructed 
by which the quantity of alcohol in any spirit may 
be ascertained from its specific gravity. A spirit 
having a specific gravity of 0*838 is said to be 54 to 58 
over proof^ because it would require that number of 
volumes of water to be added to it to reduce it to proof 
strength and specific gravity, 0*920. By suspending the 
strongest alcohol in a bladder in a warm place, the 
water will exude whilst the spirit is retained, and thus 
make the alcohol stronger, as was adopted in the good 
old smuggling times ; or by heating alcohol with salts 
which have the istrongest affinity for water, as fused 
chloride of calcium, or carbonate of potash, or quick- 
lime, the water. may be abstracted and ' absolute alcohol' 



374 LIQUID FOODS. 

procured. Sucli alcoliol lias a specific gravity of 0'793 
at 60°, and cannot be frozen by any known degree of 
cold. Even at a teraperatnre so low as 180° below zero 
it appears as an oilj' liquid, and at 146° as if it were 
melted wax, and at 166° it does not congeal. 

There is no uniform standard of strength of different 
spirits, as they are ordinarily sold ; but in practice it is 
found that respectable dealers sell gin of 17 to 20 per 
cent, under proof, rum from 10 to 15 under proof, and 
brandy in bottle from 10 to 20 under proof. The value 
is calculated on the proof gallon. 

Alcohol does not exist ready formed in nature, but is 
always the product of art. Two sets of processes are 
required, by one of which the comj^onent parts of vege- 
tables are converted into alcohol, and by the other 
the alcohol is separated from other compounds. The 
former is known as fermentation, and the latter as dis- 
tillation. The essential compound out of which alcohol 
is made is sugar, and all saccharine substances ma.j 
yield it. Sugar is a natural product, and is found in 
nearly all vegetables, but it is also readily produced by 
chemical action from starch, which is much more 
abundant in nature than sugar, by the process of fermen- 
tation. 

When sugar is fermented it breaks up, and is re- 
formed into two compounds, viz., carbonic acid and 
alcohol in nearly equal weights, so that 1 lb. of sugar 
yields somewhat more than a | lb. of ' proof ' spirit, or 
more than a ^ lb. of absolute alcohol. The carbonic 
acid escapes as a gas, whilst the alcohol remains in the 
water. This cha,nge is set in motion by adding a 
ferment as yeast (Torula cerevisiw), to a solution of 
sugar, or of substances containing sugar, in water, and 
maintaining a temperature of about 80° F. 

The substances which contain sugar with the least 



ALCOHOLS. 375 

admixture of starch are, besides sugar and treacle, the 
juices of plants, as for example the sugar-cane, the 
sugar-grass, beet root and parsnip, the sugar maple, the 
palm, and fruits of all kinds, including the grape, from 
which alcohol was very early obtained, and in these the 
fermentation of sugar and the production of alcohol are 
the most readily effected. 

But large as these sources are, they are quite insuffi- 
cient to meet the wants of the market, and we are 
therefore thrown a step backward, and must select those 
substances which contain starch largely and afford it 
cheaply, such as grain of all kinds, including barley, 
wheat, oats, rye, rice, millet, and various fresh vege- 
tables as potato and beet. 

The grains are ground and steeped in water, or 
mashed, at a temperature of 160°, in order to convert 
the starch into sugar, but a ferment must be added (if 
it does not already exist) to set it in motion. This is 
known as diastase or glycogen, which is itself a com- 
pound intermediate between starch and sugar, and 
exists in malt, so that when the operation is conducted 
on other grains, it is usual to add a proportion of barley 
in order to supply it. The operation is so very rapid, that 
in a very few hours the starch w411 have been converted 
into sugar. The rapidity varies, however, with the pro- 
portion of the diastase and the temperature employed, 
and at a temperature of 140° to 150° it is most remark- 
able. Thus 100 parts of starch made into a paste with 
39 times its weight of water, and mixed with 6*13 parts 
of diastase in 40 parts of water, produced 86 -9 parts of 
sugar in one hour. The infusion is called ivort, and 
when ready is drawn off from the grain and cooled. It 
is then prepared for the introduction of yeast, to set on 
foot the process of fermentation of the sugar, and the 
production of ajcohol. 



376 LIQUID FOODS. 

Tables showing the proportion of starch in various 
vegetables, have been given in this volume (page 147), 
and it has been found by experiment that 100 lbs. of 
corn yield 3*47, or very nearly 3 J gallons of proof spirit. 
As a rule one bushel of malt produces two gallons of 
spirit, but as the composition of barley as v^ell as other 
grain varies with the season or climate, the production 
of alcohol from it cannot be uniform, but it is not known 
that more than 2^ gallons are ever produced from one 
bushel of malt. 

Undried barley contains 58 '4 of starch, and 4*9 per 
cent, of sngar ; but the proportions are greatly changed 
in malted barley. 

One hundred lbs. of starch are equal to about 70 lbs. 
of sugar, and yield nearly 8 gallons of proof spirit. 

It must not be inferred that the spirit thus distilled 
is pnre and fit for every purpose. The first portions 
which pass over are the purest, whilst those succeeding 
contain an increased quantity of fusel-oil, but a pro- 
portion of various essential oils is formed during the 
process and gives flavour to even the best qualities 
of spirits. The finest spirit is obtained by redistillation, 
and is employed in the production of aromatic essences, 
as Eau de Cologne. 

Fusel-oil is regarded as deleterious, and the lowest 
kinds of spirits which contain it largely are used in the 
preparation of varnish, and should not be drunk ; but 
the use of them in adulteration, whether in this country 
or in America, is by no means unknown. 

Spirits of wine has a neutral taste, and is not sold 
at taverns as an ardent spirit. It is unknown to sjijirit 
drinkers ; but it may be obtained from chemists, and it 
is said that the sale of it to ladies for drinking, whilst 
somewhat secret, is on the increase. As it forms the 



ALCOHOLS. 377 

basis of all ardent spirits, it is desirable to show its 
effect upon the system. 

The effect in my experiments on its action upon the 
respiratory process was to show that alcohol differed 
from alcohols, that one member of the class differed 
from another in its effect, and that each member must 
be considered apart from any other. This is a funda- 
mental question, and I propose to place it as the 
ground-work of the following observations. The original 
observations are recorded in the Phil. Trans. 1859, and 
the diagram No. 136 is extracted from those well known 
records. 

Nearly IJ oz. of spirits of whie, containing 76 per 
cent, of pure alcohol, with 6 oz. of cold water, taken at 
one dose, in the absence of food, caused an average in- 
crease in the carbonic acid exhaled by the lungs of 0-18 
andO'8 grain, and a maximum increase of 0*46 and 1*64 
grain per minute. The quantity of air inspired was in- 
creased by 47, 53, and 26 cubic inches per minute in dif- 
ferent persons. The rate of respiration varied (No. 136). 

Half an ounce of the same spirit, with 2 oz. of cold 
water, taken every quarter of an hour for three hours, 
caused an increase of 0*74 grain of carbonic acid and 
37 cubic inches of air per minute. The rate of pulsa- 
tion rose, but the whole direct effect was exhausted in 
70 minutes. The quantity of vapour exhaled by the 
lungs was increased from 3*12 to 3*76 grains per 
minute ; perhaps in proportion to the increase in the 
nmount of air expired (No. 136). 

Hence, pure alcohol in this moderate dose, acted 
as a general stimulant, and small doses, frequently re- 
peated, produced greater effect than a large one ; but 
the effect was not so uniform as that of an ordinary 
*bod. The dose taken, although small for a spirit drinker. 



378 LIQUID FOODS. 

was a fair one for myself, and as it was taken on an empty 
stomach, it caused considerable oppression of the senses. 

It was desirable to ascertain if the inhalation of the 
alcohol and of the volatile properties of other alcohols 
had the same effect as the drinking of them. The effect 
of inhaling spirits of wine for 15 minutes was to lessen 
the expiration of carbonic acid by 0*34 grain, and the 
air ins23ired by 11 cubic inches per minute, whilst the 
vapour exhaled was increased from 0*755 grain to 0-973' 
grain in one, and from 0*78 grain to 0*91 grain in 
another experiment, per 100 cubic inches. Hence, the 
effect on the emission of vapour by the lungs was the 
same from both inethods, whilst the elimination of car- 
bonic acid was opposed in the two sets of experiments. 
As the inhalation of so strong a vapour as that of alcohol 
is not usual, the results are open to the explanation that 
the effect was local, and may not indicate a general action. 

Whiskey is so named from the Gaelic Avord uisge, or 
water. It is prepared in a manner very similar to that 
of spirits of wine, and is indeed imported largely for re- 
distillation, and the preparation of alcohol, gin, and 
brandy. It is made from any kind of grain and starch- 
bearing vegetables, as potatoes and turnips, which may 
grow in the neighbourhood, and for ages has been a 
chief source of the smuggler's x^i'ofit. It is divided in 
Scotland and Ireland into small-still and large-still 
whiskey ; the former being chiefly produced in an illicit 
manner by the peasantry of the country ; and the 
latter in the distilleries under the supervision of the 
Government. The former has always been regarded as 
the better kind, in reference to flavour, and as having 
less of bhe acrid essential oils which cause so much irri- 
tation in the throat and stomach when the spirit is 
drank without or with very little water. 

The flavour of whiskey differs from that of spirits of 



ALCOHOLS. 879 

wine by reason of the volatile oils wMcli fall over in 
distillation, o.nd not nnfrequentlj by the admixture of 
substances of a special character, as pine-apple flavour. 
The peaty flavour which is found in certain kinds is 
said to be due to the peaty water which is obtained in 
the mountains for the use of the still, or to the smoke 
of the fuel which is used. Especial attention has been 
g-iven of late years by the large manufacturers to pro- 
duce whiskey of an approved flavour and colour, and to 
render it more mellow and less acrid, and the quality 
of the large-still has been brought much nearer to that 
of the best small-still whiskey of a quarter of a century 
ago ; whilst it is far superior to the kinds which were 
then ordinarily sold. 

It is, however, most desirable that whiskey should 
be kept some years before use, so that it may generate 
volatile oils, and obtain mellowness of flavour. The 
most approved course is to fill a sherry cask with it and 
to leave it quiescent, by which it will acquire colour 
and mellowness of flavour. The greatest quantity is 
made in the United States of America, where the 
peach whiskey, the Monongahela whiskey of Penn- 
sylvania and that from Bourbon County, Kentucky, 
are accounted the best. It is made in every State, but 
particularly in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Penn- 
sylvania, and New York, and at so cheap a rate that when 
I travelled on the Mississippi more than twenty years 
ago, it could be obtained at eightpence to tenpence a 
gallon. Such spirit is rough and fiery, and tastes much 
like turpentine, and not only quickly intoxicates, but 
produces disease of the mucous membrane of the 
stomach, as well as of the liver, spleen and kidneys. It 
caused furious drunkenness among the Red Indians, 
when it was first given to them, and has been the chief 
cause of their deo-radation and extermination. 



380 LIQUID FOODS. 

The quality of the spirit which is generally obtained 
in the British Islands is certainly far superior to that 
generally drank in the Western States of America, and 
the injurious effects are in the same degree less. No 
one can have travelled in the hills of Scotland or Ireland 
without being sensible that he could drink whiskey with 
an impunity which would be perfectly impossible in the 
lowlands or in England ; and even ladies, who turn from 
it with disgust at home, relish the whiskey-and-water 
which is handed to them several times a day after a 
long walk in Scotland, or after exposure to the drench- 
ing rains of Ireland. 

It is, however, very difficult to fix upon a standard of 
quality which shall represent the kinds of whiskey in 
general use, for the varieties are infinite, both in the 
quantity and kind of essential oils, and in the quantity 
of alcohol ; and hence, uniformity of action from dif- 
ferent specimens of the fluid, cannot be expected. 

The effect of whiskey in my experiments was less uni- 
form than that of spirits of wine, and varied somewhat 
with the age of the liquor. One and a half ounce of 
whiskey, containing only 45 per cent, of alcohol in 6 oz. 
of cold water, caused an average decrease in the car- 
bonic acid evolved of 0'83, and a maximum decrease of 
0*7 grain per minute ; whilst the rate of respiration 
was stationary, and that of pulsation fell. Two ounces 
of the same whiskey caused an average decrease of 
0*57, and a maximum decrease of 1 grain per minute 
on myself; whilst there was an average increase of 
0'29, and a maximum increase of 0*66 grain per 
minute in my friend. The rate of respiration generally 
declined (No. 186). 

Two ounces of the finest whiskey, containing 69 per 
cent, of pure alcohol, and bottled more than twent}' 
years, when taken with water, gave me an average in- 



ALCOHOLS. 381 

crease of 0-29 grain of carbonic acid, and my friend of 
0-22 grain per minute ; but there was considerable 
variation in the effect during the course of the experi- 
ment. The rate of respiration fell, and that of pulsa- 
tion rose (No. 136). 

Hence, the result was rather that of disturbance of 
the vital functions than of a steady influence in either 
direction. 

Brandy is or should be the choicest and most agree- 
able member of the class of ardent spirits. It should 
be prepared b}^ distillation from wine ; when 1,000 gal- 
lons of wine yield from 100 to 150 gallons of brandy, con- 
sisting of about 50 to 54 per cent, of absolute alcohol. It 
is said that a stronger spirit is obtained from red than 
from white wines, but the flavour depends essentially on 
the quality of the wine, so that the finest is obtained 
from the best white wines in the Coo^nac and Armao-nac 
districts of France. It would, however, be readily 
assumed, that strong iiiferior wines would be substi- 
tuted in this process for delicate and high flavoured 
wines ; and in Spain and Portugal the substitution 
descends yet lower, and consists of the refuse wine lees, 
grape skins, and remains of wine in bottles. 

A very large proportion of the brandy consumed all 
over the world is, however, made with little or no wine, 
and is simply alcohol distilled as in the preparation of 
whiskey, and coloured and flavoured with oil of Cognac. 
A very large quantity of common fiery potato spirit is 
sent to France from Germany to be redistilled and 
forwarded to us as French brandy, whilst various 
qualities of spirits are made in this country into British 
brandy. 

Brandy is as colourless on distillation from wine as 
alcohol distilled from malt, and can readily be coloured 
by adding burnt sugar. Its flavour is due to volatile oils 



38 2 LIQUID FOODS. 

and cenanthic ethers, the nature of which has not been 
determined, but some are derived from the distillate, 
and others are produced in the process of distillation 
and by age. These vary with the wine from which it 
is made, and it is said that a dealer should be able 
to determine by the taste the district of its manu- 
facture. 

It is therefore evident that brandy differs from 
whiskey, and other moderately good spirits, only in the 
flavours which it possesses, and the inferior kinds are 
in no degree superior to them ; but when prepared from 
fine flavoured wines and kept for several years it has a 
delicacy and richness of bouquet, which are both agree- 
able and peculiar to it. It is usually distilled at a 
lower degree of proof with a specific gravity of about 
0-930, containing half its weight of water, and when 
redistilled loses much of its fine aromas from oenanthic 
and acetic ethers. 

The effects of brandy will, therefore, be very much 
those of the spirit of which it is made, and the purer 
the spirit the nearer will the effect approach that of 
alcohol. The ethers are, however, regarded as of much 
value in medicine, and their action does not appear to 
be in the same direction as that of the spirit, but the 
quantity of them may vary greatly and descend to 
almost nil in the common kinds. Perhaps there is 
no preparation used as food or medicine in which there 
is p.o great a variation in quality, whilst at the same 
time the changes are due to subtile substances, but 
little known to the wisest, and inappreciable by the 
unrefined and untutored taste. 

In my experiments, 1^ oz. of excellent brandy 
diluted with 6 oz. of water caused an average decrease 
of 0*2 grain, and a maximum decrease of 0*38 grain 
in the carbonic acid expired, per minute. In another 



ALCOHOL>S. 383 

Beries the average decrease was 0*38, and the maximum 
decrease 0*71 grain per minute in myself and of 0*02 
and 0-62 grain respectively in my friend. The quantity 
of air inspired fell 42, 37 and 34 cubic inches per minute, 
in different experiments. My rate of pulsation and re- 
spiration fell in all the experiments (No. 136). 

Gin differs from ail the other ardent spirits in being 
entirely an artificial compound, and prepared from 
recipes adopted by each distiller with the unknown 
additions of the retailer. 

It consists of any spirit distilled in the ordinary 
manner (but usually of an inferior spirit and containing 
much fusel-oil), of which, about 80 gallons of proof 
strength is distilled with 10 gallons of water, 3 J lbs. of 
common salt, and 5 fluid ounces of turpentine, with or 
without essence of juniper berries and creosote. There 
is reason to believe that the properties of gin do not 
depend upon ethers, or any volatile compounds created 
in the manufacture, but simply upon the substances 
used in its composition. 

For ordinary use it is desirable that the compound 
should have a soft flavour ; but for the gin drinker of 
the lowest classes a strong acrid fiery spirit is prepared, 
and hence the manufacturer may make an agreeable 
and perhaps not injurious mixture, but the retailer in 
the lower class of gin shops increases its apparent 
strength by adding various aromatic essences, as 
coriander, carraway, capsicum, cardamoms and lemon, 
or creosote, sulphuric acid and salts of tartar. It is 
certainly very desirable to obtain this spirit as it leaves 
the producer, and to select that distillery which pro- 
duces gin of approved flavour. 

' Hollands ' is not necessarily a purer spirit than 
home-made gin, but it is made from unmalted rye, and 
malted bigg, and is more highly flavoured with juniper 



384 LIQUID FOODS. 

berries and less mixed with turpentine. The production 
of it is very large, but the ^proportionate consumption 
in this country is diminishing in favour of ordinary gin. 

The effect of gin in my experiments was to produce 
the greatest decrease in vital action of any spirit under 
enquiry. With 2 oz. of fine old gin in 6 oz. of water, 
the fall was so great as 1*52 grain of carbonic acid per 
minute as a maximum, and 0'65, grain per minute on 
the average of 86 minutes. On another occasion with a 
newer gin the maximum decrease was 0*46 grain of 
carbonic acid per minute. The diminution in the air 
respired was no less than 56 and 43 cubic inches per 
minute (No. 136). 

There was, moreover, a diminution in the quantity of 
vapour exhaled by the lungs of from 3*12 to 2*7 grains 
per minute, but the proportion was very nearly that of 
the diminution in the quantity of air inspired since the 
proportion in 100 cubic inches was 0*667 against 0'699 
grain. The rate of respiration fell in myself, but 
varied in my friend (No. 136). 

We have now arrived at the consideration of a spirit 
whose effect is in direct opposition to that of gin, one 
which is very generally popular, is regarded as healthful, 
[ind is prepared without intermixture. 

Rum is almost exclusively a West Indian product, 
and is made from fresh cane-juice and the scum which 
rises in the manufacture of sugar, and contains vola- 
tile and essential oils, which are produced both by the 
sugar-cane and the process of manufacture. It is also 
made from a mixture of the scummings and the un- 
crystallisable residue of saccharine juice, or molasses, 
and even from molasses alone ; and although there is 
this unity in its several sources, the two latter are by no 
means equal to the first in volatile oils and ethers, 
and therefore in the flavour of the rum. The wort ia 



ALCOHOLS. 385 

prepared from old and new lees with new sweets added, 
and has a strength of about 12 per cent, of sugar. 
After 10 to 15 days' fermentation and distillation it 
yields about 10 per cent, of rum, or 1 gallon from 
10 gallons of wort, and care is taken to neutralise the 
acid due to the acetous fermentation. Every planta- 
tion produces sugar, molasses, and rum, the proportions 
of which vary according to the market price of each, but 
usually it is 1 gallon of rum to 6 cwt. of sugar. The rum 
thus distilled is colourless, and is sometimes sold as white 
rum, in which state it is a very agreeable and delicately 
flavoured cordial. It is, however, generally coloured 
for the market by the addition of caramel or slightly 
burnt sugar, Avhich has lost much of its sweetening pro- 
perties, but is not in any respect improved by the 
addition. By the addition of pine-apple in the process 
of fermentation a new flavour is obtained, and the pro- 
duct is sold as pine-apple rum. 

This spirit improves by age as much or more than 
any other spirit or spirituous liquor both in what it 
loses and in what it gains. New rum is generally 
strong, and readily produces intoxication, and is said to 
be injurious to health by inducing a tendency to fever 
in hot and to disease of the liver in cold climates; 
whilst old rum has lost spirit and gained oenanthic 
ether, and has been greatly improved in softness and 
flavour. Rum of moderate age may properly be esteemed 
the purest, and most healthful, member of this class, and 
is, I believe, the most perfect cordial with which we 
are acquainted. 

In our experiments li oz. of Navy rum containing 
58 per cent, of alcohol when taken with water in the 
afternoon gave maximum increase of 0*78 and 0*7 grain 
of carbonic acid per minute in two persons, and an 
average increase of 0*26 grain per minute in myself. 



386 LIQUID FOODS. 

When the experiment was repeated in the morning the 
maximum increase was 1*24 and 2*14 grains per minute 
in two persons. Two oz. of very fine old rum containing 
69 per cent, of alcohol gave a maximum increase of 
O'l and 1*5 grain of carbonic acid per minute in two 
persons (No. 136). 

Half an ounce of moderately good rum containing 
only 37 J per cent, of alcohol with 2 ounces of cold water 
taken every quarter of an hour gave an average increase 
on the whole of each quarter of an hour of 0*14, 0'43, 
0-2, and 0*66 grain of carbonic acid per minute with 
an increase of 49 cubic inches of air per minute after the 
last dose. There was a progressive decrease of vapour 
in each 100 cubic inches of air expired in each quarter 
of an hour of 0*7, 0*67, 0*65, and 0*67 grain (No. 136). 

Thus, on a review of the experiments with moderate 
or small doses of these strong alcohols properly di- 
luted and taken on an empty stomach, it is shown that 
the vital actions are generally increased with pure 
spirits of wine and rum, whilst they are lessened with 
brandy, and greatly lessened with gin. Whiskey varied 
more than the other alcohols, but generally its tendency 
was to lessen vital actions. But it is needful to repeat 
the observation, that there is much greater disturbing 
influence excited by these agents than by ordinary foods, 
and there was not that regular progression of increase or 
decrease usually observed with other agents. This ex- 
tended even to the rate of pulsation and respiration. 

When- rum was added to milk as in a well known 
compound, the effect on the respiratory functions was 
that of a true food both in degree and persistency, 
but it was not greater than that of milk alone. Thus 
1|- ounce of Navy rum added to 1 pint of good new 
milk produced an average increase of 0*73 and 0"65 
grain, and maxima of 0*9 and 1*38 grain of carbonic 



ALCOHOLS. 387 

acid per minute in myself and friend. The quantity 
of air respired was increased by 25 and 18 cubic inches 
per minute and the depth of respiration was increased. 
The rate of respiration declined whilst that of pulsation 
increased (ISTo. 136). 

It has been frequently remarked in this chapter that 
our knowledge of the essential oils which give flavour 
to spirits is very limited, but I have proved by my ex- 
periments that they are powerful agents, and I may add 
another illustration in the fact that only a few drops of 
a disagreeable essential oil which is distilled from the 
mure of the grape would suffice to destroy the flavour of 
a whole pipe of choice brandy if not carefully excluded. 

The inhalation of the volatile vapours of such spirits 
as when taken by the stomach caused an increase in 
the quantity of carbonic acid evolved by expiration did 
not cause an increase but a decrease. 

The proportion of the vapour exhaled by the expired 
air was not materially changed. 

There are many other preparations of ardent spirits 
in use in those parts of the world where our kinds of 
spirits are not used, to which reference may be made. 

Moad is a raw spirit prepared from rice in Assam. 

Hurreah is a spirit used at Chyebana, in the district 
of Barrackpore. 

Arrack is produced from rice, but it is also a generic 
name, which is sometimes used in India to describe all 
kinds of ardent spirits. 

Mead and metheglin are spirituous liquors made from 
honey in Saxon and even to our own times, but their 
use is now nearly limited to Sussex. 

Wine. 

Wines have been known in all ages and by all civilised 
nations, but .they have been made from a great variety 



o88 LIQUID FOODS. 

of fruit according to the productions of each country 
and the means of importation. They were well known 
to our forefathers at a very distant period, and were 
either prepared in this country from elderberry, cowslip, 
coltsfoot, honey or sugar, or w^ere imported from France 
and Southern Europe. The use of wine in the prepara- 
tion of food for the wealthy classes in the 14th century 
was very frequent, since it enters into a very large pro- 
portion of the domestic recipes of that period, but it was 
commonly Greek or Cyprus, and not home-made wine. 

Claret is also frequently mentioned at an early period, 
but as the meaning of the word was probably clear cup, 
it must not be inferred that it was necessarily the wine 
of Bordeaux. 

These beverages usually consist of the fermented 
juice of the grape, and should therefore have the 
elements which are found in grape juice, subject to the 
changes of fermentation and the effect of age and treat- 
ment. There are always alcohol, grape sugar, or 
glucose, bitartrate and malate of potash, tartrate of 
lime, chloride of sodium, and tannin, besides various 
essential oils, which give flavour, and oenanthic ethers, 
which give bouquet or aroma to the wine. According to 
Franck the salts consist of bitartrate of potash, tartrate 
of lime, tartrate of aluminium, tartrate of iron, chloride 
of sodium, chloride of potassium, sulphate of potash and 
phosphate of aluminium. 

In the preparation of wine in France and Germany 
the grapes which are gathered during the day are usually 
pressed at night, and the juice is immediately set aside 
for fermentation. Such as are particularly fine and ripe 
are selected to make the choicest quality, or Auslese 
wine, and the remainder are used for the ordinary 
quality. When making sparkling wines from black 
grapes the grapes are at first pressed gently, so as not to 



ALCOHOLS. 389 

squeeze out tlie colouring matter of the skin, but after- 
wards they are pressed more sharply for the inferior 
white wines, or added to the red ^-rape in making red 
wines. The proportion of Auslese wine which can be 
made varies with the season, but it is small in comparison 
with the whole, and consequently obtains a much higher 
price. 

The juice having been placed in a vat produces a froth 
upon the surface in the course of the night, which, after 
attaining a certain degree of thickness, is skimmed off 
and the process is renewed with a second or third layer 
of froth. At length all the remaining scum rises to the 
surface after the process of fermentation has fully set 
in, and is rapidly and completely skimmed away, when 
the clear liquor is transferred to barrels to complete the 
process and to ripen. The fermented juice is allowed 
to remain nntil about the middle of winter, viz., until 
February, when it is racked off from the lees and 
renewed fermentation with the return of the warmer 
weather is thus j)revented or greatly lessened. 

When making the ordinary wines, whether white or 
red, the grapes after having been macerated in water 
are trodden in layers of more than a foot in thickness, 
and left to ferment, while the vat is usually covered 
over. When the violence of the fermentation has sub- 
sided and the liquor is becoming clear and no longer 
sweet, it is racked off and run into tuns for perfect fer- 
mentation and ripening. The mure, or remains of the 
bruised grape and foot stalks, is then pressed, and the 
clear wine is distributed through the vats, whilst the 
thicker residue after complete pressing is made into 
inferior wine. 

Wines thus produced vary in every constituent ac- 
cording to the locality, season, and age, but generally 
the produce of each vineyard retains its own leading 



390 



LIQUID FOODS. 



characteristics. They are not usually drank until they 
have undergone important chemical changes, some of 
which take place rapidly in cask, and others much more 
quickly in bottle. 

The quantity of alcohol in wines varies with the nature 
of the grape, the season, and the vineyard. The French 
wines in the department of the Gironde vary from 7 to 
15 per cent., but the majority have 9 per cent, and 
upwards, and the white wines are the stronger. The 
strongest wines are grown a,t Sauterne, Barsac, Poden- 
sac, Carbonnieux, Bommes, Preignac, Castlenau, and 
Queyries, all of which have over 11 per cent., whilst the 
well-known wines of Ch.-Lafite and Ch.-Margaux havo 
less than 9, and Larose, St.-Estephe, and St.-Emilion 
have between 9 and 10 per cent. 

The proportion of alcohol in the stronger wines has 
been determined by Brande, as follows : — 

No. 137. 







Alcohol 


per cent. 


Wine 


Sp. Gr. 


Sp. Gr. 0-825 


Absolute 


Port— mean 


•97460 


23-49 


21-75 


Madeira „ 


•97571 


20-38 


20-31 


Sherry „ 


•97806 


19-04 


17-63 


Bordeaux Claret — mean . 


•97251 


14-61 


13^53 


Lisbon 


•97846 


18-94 


17-45 


Bucellas . 


•97890 


18-49 


17-22 


Marsala— mean . 


•98095 


16-26 


15-14 


Champagne „ . 


•98529 


12-05 


11-65 


Burgundy „ . 


•98420 


13-24 


12-20 


Hermitage — white 


•97990 


17-43 


16-14 


red 


•98495 


1232 


11-40 


Hock 


•98290 


14-37 


13-31 


„ ... 


•98873 


8-88 


8- 


Vin de Grave 


. ^98450 


12-80 


11-84 


Cote-Rote . 


. -98495 


12-27 


11-36 


Eoussillon . 


. -98005 


17-24 


15-96 


Constantia. 


•97770 


19-75 


18-29 


Tinto 


. -98399 


13-30 


12-32 


Tokay 


. -98760 


9-88 


9-16 


Laehrymse Christi 




19-70 


18-24 



ALCOHOLS. 391 

Wlien the quantity of sugar which is formed during 
the process of ripening wine is not very large, all of it 
may be transformed into alcohol, but in larger amount 
a portion produces about 20 per cent, of alcohol, which 
is sufficient to retard or prevent the transformation of the 
remainder, and the result is a sweet wine. This will 
be further referred to when describing the process of 
manufacture of the wines of the Peninsula ; and when it 
is desirable to fortify the wine with a view to prevent 
further fermentation additional alcohol is added. 

The acid or sub-acid flavour is due to the malates 
and tartrates already mentioned, and not necessarily to 
the presence of acetic acid ; neither are the acid eruc- 
tations which sometime follow the use of imperfectly 
fermented or sweetened wine due to that acid in the 
wine, but to the transformation in the stomach of the 
sugar which had been added. When wine has been 
exposed to a limited quantity of air a substance is pro- 
duced which having one atom more oxygen than alcohol 
is intermediate between alcohol and acetic acid, viz., 
aldehyde — one of the forms in which alcohol is subse- 
quently emitted from the body. If it is desired to 
remove the natural sub-acid flavour, the practice is to 
add Paris plaster or sulphate of baryta, by which the 
natural vegetable acid salts are thrown down, and cer- 
tain proportions of sulphates substituted for them. 
Such a course, however, robs the wine of one of its 
agreeable and useful elements, and substitutes that 
which is less agreeable. This practice seems to be of 
old date, for Falstaff discovered lime in the sack, and 
although he did not regard it as the worst of evils, it is 
clear that he did not approve it when he added that, 
' Yet a coward is worse than a cup of sack with lime in 
it.' (1 Hen. lY. 11. iy.) Sherry which has been thus 
treated is apt ^o be bitter. 

18 



892 LIQUID FOODS. 

Wlien a large quantity of wine is distilled certain 
essential oils and cenanthic ethers come over at the last. 
The former is of the nature of a fatty acid, and when 
pure is of the consistence of butter at 60°, whilst the 
latter is an oily substance, and it is said to form 4-^th 
of the wine. 

The following quantities of cenanthic ethers are found 
in 500 grammes of the wines of the Gironde, the quan- 
tities being given in grammes and centigrammes : — 

No. 138. 

Ch.-Margaux 1-25 

Ch.-Lafite 1-20 

Cos-d'Estournel 1'15 

Ch.-Latour "i 
Ch.-Haut-Brion [ 
Leoville ( 

Barsac J 

Saiiterne 1-05 

Griiaud-Larose '90 

St.-Estephe-Phelan . . . , . -85 

St.-]gmilion ('^^ 

1-70 

France, Grermany, Spain, and Portugal have hitherto 
been the chief sources whence our markets have been 
supplied with wine. In France the principal districts, 
or centres around which the different classes of wines 
are grouped, are Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone, Cham- 
pagne, and the South of France ; whilst in Germany 
the districts are the Rhine, Moselle, and Mayne. 

The Bordeaux districts, including the wine of the 
Medoc and the department of the Gironde, supply the 
greater proportion of the light red wines which we 
receive. The wines are very complete in their fermen- 
tation, and show less acidity than most other French 
wines. Their alcoholic strength is moderate and quite 
natural, and they are pure and light and pleasant to 
the taste. They have also good body, colour, and bou- 



ALCOHOLS. 393 

qnet, ^vitli a little roughness on the palate. The red 
wines of Burgundy have fuller body and aroma, with 
less roughness, and more delicacy of flavour, but they 
retain a larger proportion of saccharine elements, and 
are more liable to a second fermentation. The same class 
of wines on the Ehone have not so marked a character, 
but they are very agreeable having much of the body 
and colour of Burgundy, with the lightness of the Bor- 
deaux wine. The white wines of both the Bordeaux 
and the Burgundy districts are generally stronger in 
alcohol than the red wines, and are full of flavour, as 
the Graves, Barsac, Sauterne, and Chablis, and few 
excel the Chateau Yquem in lusciousness and aroma, 
and we may add in price. 

Champagne is chiefly produced in the district of that 
name on the two sides of the river Marne, where are the 
well known vineyards of Ay, Bouzy, Verzenay, Epernay, 
and Avize ; but it is made in many other departments, 
as those of the Jura and Loire, and is prepared from 
both black and white grapes, either mixed or separate 
as body and aroma or lightness may be required. It is 
classed as still, sparkling, and d^mi-sparkling, and is 
either sweet or dry according to the completeness of 
the fermentation, and has a greater alcoholic strength 
than the wines of the Bordeaux district. Other sj^ark- 
ling French wines are less known, but are of delicious 
flavour, as sparkling Hermitage, and red and white 
Burgundy and St.-Peray. 

The wines from the South of France more resemble 
the Spanish and Portuguese wines than those of France, 
as they are fortified by the addition of alcohol, so that 
Roussillon and Masdeu are more like a Port than a 
Claret, and not so good as either. 

The wines of Germany are generally of a higher class, 
drier and fuller of aroma, so that they are amongst 



394 LIQUID FOODS. 

the most enjoyable wines which, are placed on the 
table. Their fermentation is perfect, and they are 
therefore not termed acid wines, yet they have a 
slightly acid flavour, which renders them fresh and 
cooling. The Hock and still Moselle may be re- 
garded as perfect wines, but their quality necessarily 
varies with the season as well as the vineyard. Hoch- 
heim, Rudesheim, Marcobrunn, Eauenthal, Johannis- 
berg, and Steinberg well represent the several classes. 
They are prepared with great care, and require to be 
kept in cask for some years before they are bottled, 
and even then they are rarely perfectly clear. The firm, 
B. J. Mayer, of Mayence, are growers and shippers of 
high repute. 

Sparkling Hock is lighter than Champagne, and is 
preferred by many. It has a cleaner taste, with a deli- 
cate flavour ; and as i fc far more rarely disagrees with 
the stomach than the sweeter kinds of sparkling Cham- 
pagne is, probably, superior to it. 

The wines of Spain and Portugal are very numerous, 
and, as in other countries, embrace both white and red, 
but all that are sent to this country are fortified with 
alcohol. Their flavour is in part due to the vintage 
of the year, but it is much more commonly varied by 
the addition of the wine of other years, which may 
have an aroma and quality preferred in the market. 
Hence wines of any quality, flavour, and strength can 
be prepared to order. The chief wine exported from 
Spain is Sherry, which is the product of many districts ; 
but sweet wines, as the Rota Tent and Malaga, are also 
made, and are luscious and full of body. 

There are, however, wines of a light character pro- 
duced in Spain, some of which are not largely exported, 
and of such Montilla should perhaps be placed first. 
A fine quality of Montilla has a fulness and delicacy 



ALCOHOLS. 395 

of bouquet which is unsurpassed by any wine, but 
it must be drunk in the country of its production, 
and in vineyards where it is carefully prepared. The 
rod wines, known as Catalonia, Tarragona, and Yalen- 
tia, are coming into the market, and will find their 
own position, but they cannot displace either the Ger- 
man or the Bordeaux wines, whilst they may largely 
aid in cheapening Port wine. 

Port wine is a mixed, and not a natural production of 
the grape, and is in fact more of a cordial than a 
wine. The best vineyards are on the Upper and Lower 
Douro, in the neighbourhood of Lisbon, and their pro- 
ducts are shipped from Oporto. After the juice has 
been pressed in the usual manner of all countries, whilst 
the fermentation is going on, a certain quantity of grape 
or other spirit is added so as to impede the process and 
to retain some of the saccharine matter as well as the 
flavour of the grape, and by that means a wine of 
a sweeter character and of fuller body than Prench 
wines is obtained. Hence a wine is prepared, which 
is sweet and strong and only partially fermented, whilst 
its alcoholic strength is raised from 35 to 42 per cent, 
of proof spirit, and it requires to be first kept in cask 
for some years and then in bottle to throw down a 
crust, and to become clear and fit for use. Wine thus 
prepared varies very much in quality and colour ac- 
cording to the year. 

The qualities of Port wine are especially body and 
aroma, with' moderate fruitiness and strength, but it 
should neither be sweet nor rough. Its colour should 
be full and rich, but if kept too long in cask it loses its 
colour, body, and alcoholic strength, and becomes a 
light, tawny, aromatic, and yet agreeable wine. The 
Port wine drinker demands body as well as flavour and 
bouquet, but the wine which is old in wood, if of fine 



396 LiaUID FOODS. 

quality, suits other persons better. As, however, cer- 
tain oenanthic ethers are produced only in bottle or more 
rapidly in bottle than in wood, and are both agreeable 
and useful, it is necessary that Port should have been 
bottled and have thrown a crust before it is used, and 
within limits the longer it has been in bottle the more 
it is improved in fulness and delicacy of flavour. 

The white wines of Portugal are most agreeable and 
delicate, and it is doubtful whether ^jine Bucellas may 
not hold its own against the French wines — certainly a 
white wine fuller of body and aroma can scarcely be 
obtained when it is fine and old. Of other wines it 
will suffice to mention sweet Lisbon, which is not 
largely imported, and white Port, which was formerly 
consumed more abundantly than at present, and which 
was so highly esteemed, that fine old samples were sold 
at a guinea a bottle. 

Whilst the consumption of Port wine is decreasing, 
and that of Claret increasing, competitors are arising 
which bid fair to force their way into the market and 
may ultimately gain a place amongst us. Of these, the 
wines of Hungary and Greece seem to occupy the first 
rank, and in point of quality, will hold their own against 
the wines of other parts of Europe. 

The red wines of Hungary are not unlike the Phone 
wines of France, since they are as full of body and 
flavour, and yet light and agreeable ; but as now manu- 
factured have somewhat more astringency, whilst the 
Avhite wines are full of aroma, with a soft and mellow 
flavour. The whole country may be said to be a wine- 
producing country, and has been so for ages, and with 
proper cultivation and patronage might even rival 
France. The following are the best known districts : — 

Red Wine : Buda, Egri, Yisonta, Vittarry, Karlovitz, 
Menes, and Magyarat. 



ALCOHOLS. 397 

White Wine : St. Gyorgy, S'Opronj, Somlo, Tokaj, 
Tetney, Bosing, Badasconyer, Pees, Kobanya, and Nesz- 
mely. 

None, until lately, have been so well known in Eng- 
land as Tokay; but since the Great Exhibition in 1851, 
Hungarian wines have been kept before the public, and 
it may be predicted that many will have established their 
name and fame before the end of the present century. 

The alcoholic strength of some of the best known 
Hungarian wines is as follows : — 

No. 139. 

Proof Spirit 

Somlauer 23-60 

Erlauer 2310 

Menes 22-20 

Bakator 21 -03 

Karlovitz 2 TOO 

Ofner • 20-60 

Szegszard . 20*20 

Sweet 

Tokay 18-04 

The Greek wines successfully introduced by Mr. 
Denman of Piccadilly are less known than the merits 
of Greece deserve; but until a powerful government 
is established, and there is safety to person and pro- 
perty, the great resources of the country in this direction 
cannot be developed. No country in reference to soil, 
elevation, sun and climate, can excel ifc, and with capital 
and intelligence, the wines may equal, if not surpass, 
those of Central Europe. 

These, like all other natural wines, have a character 
of their own, so that they can only in a very general 
manner be compared with wines in ordinary use, but all 
have this characteristic, viz., that when new they more 
or less resemble the white and red wines of Prance or 
Portugal drank at dinner, and when ten years old in 
bottle have r^cquired qualities which make them re- 



398 



LIQUID FOODS. 



semble dessert wines, and in flavour are not inferior 
to many liqueurs. This contrast in quality of the 
same wine and rapidity of maturation are most re- 
markable. 

They are produced from grapes which abound in 
saccharine matter, and in all the elements of grape juice, 
and being perfectly fermented are probably the strongest 
natural wines in the market, and when drank at dinner, 
will allow a dilution of one third to lower them to the 
strength of the French and Rhine wines. Hence, 
whatever may be the value of wine, they possess it 
intrinsically in the highest degree, and in point of 
economy cannot be surpassed. 

The following table shows the natural alcoholic 
strength of the Greek as compared with French wines :- 



Thera . 
St. Elie . 
Santorin . 
White Pdtras . 
White Kephisia 
White Mont Hymet 
Como 
Bed Patras 



Hermitage 
Pouilly . 
Chamber tin *l 
Clos-VougeotJ 
St. George 
Chabhs . 



No. 140. 
Greek. 

Proof Spirit 

. 2670 

. 26-00 

. 25-92 

. 25-84 

. 25-63 

. 25-14 

. 24-54 

. 24-00 



Cyprus . 

Red Mont Hymet 

Red Kephisia . 



Lachrymge Christi 
Vinsanto 



22-03 
23-00 

20-80 



French. 

Sauterne . 
Graves . 
St.-Estfephe "1 
St.-EmilionJ 



18-30 
1802 



M^doc 
Ch.-Lafite. 



Proof Spirit 
. 23-66 
. 23-40 
. 23-03 



1713 
15-61 



17-06 
16-10 

16-00 
15-70 



The new red wines are somewhat astringent, and 
should be drank with water, but the white of the same 
age have a milder flavour, and being without acidity, 
may be enjoyed equally with or without dilution. 



ALCOHOLS. 399 

Of all wines with which I am familiar none excel 
old bottled Tliera in the delicacy, fulness and luscious- 
ness of its aroma and flavour, and being a completely 
fermented wine made from the fresh grape, it is worthy 
to be regarded as a perfect wine, and the represent- 
ative of the J^ectar of ancient Greece. It is scarcely 
possible to make a selection of these wines, which when 
young, would be equally appreciated by all persons, yet 
perhaps the White Kephesia, St. Elie, Mont Hyniet, 
Patras and Thera would be the most generally approved. 
The St. Elie developes an Amontillado character, whilst 
the Patras more nearly resembles Hock, and the 
Kephisia Chablis, but with a much greater fulness of 
body and fla,vour. Of the red wines, the ISToussa, 
Patras, and Kephisia may be mentioned, all of which 
resemble the unfortified Rhone or Burgundy wines, and 
become less astringent when they bave deposited a 
portion of their tartar and tannin by age. These full 
bodied wines, whether in wood or bottle, develop 
various ethers, and this is particularly observable in the 
St. Elie. The White Kephisia is a very fine full bodied 
dry dinner wine. 

On the whole, I am of opinion that if these wines 
should continue to be prepared by perfect fermentation, 
without being fortified, and with the body and aroma 
which they now possess, they must occupy a very high 
place — perhaps the highest place among natural un- 
fortified wines, and if the price should be wisely kept 
down, they must be admitted to general use to the 
yet further exclusion of fortified wines. 

There is yet another class to which reference must 
be made, viz., the sweet wines prepared from the dried 
grape, of which the Lachrymse Christi, a red, and 
Vinsanto, a white Santorin, from the island of that 
name, are delicious dessert wines. 



400 LIQUID FOODS. 

M. About, in ' La Grece contemporaine/ page 1 14, 
writes thus of the wines of the Isle of Santorin : — 

' Le vin de Santorin se conserve longtemps, il resiste aux plus 
iongues traversees. II flafcte les jeux par une belle couleur 
topaze, et satisfait le gout par une saveur franche. II porte 
I'eau a merveille ; je n'ai pas bu d'autre vin a mes repas pen- 
dant deux ans. II se sent de son origine. Ne sur un volcan 
mal eteint, il est le lacryma-Cbrisfci de la Grece. 

Les Russes sont tres-friands du vin de Santorin, ils en 
acbetent tons les ans pour cinquante mille drachmes, mais ils 
prefereraient I'avoir pour rien et boire sur place.' 

In ' Le Eoi des Montagues,' page 13, the same author 
writes of ' un petit vin de Santorin ': — 

' Je crois pouvoir affirmer que ce vin-la serait apprecie a la 
table d'un roi ; il est jaune conime Tor, transparent comme la 
topaze, eclatant comme le soleil, joyeux comme le sourire 
d'un enfant.' 

The wines of Sicily are represented by Marsala, 
grown at Catania and fortified, which has estab- 
lished a reputation, and when fine and old is much 
esteemed. The characteristics of Sicily correspond with 
those of Greece as a wine-growing country, and on the 
slopes of Etna is a soil and climate particularly adapted 
to the vine. The sale of Marsala has never been so 
large as its quality and price might have warranted. 
It is not equal to a light Sherry in flavour, nor to a 
Rhine wine in bouquet and refreshing qualities; but 
other and choicer Italian wines will, no doubt, make 
a name in our market now that the country is so 
largely adding to its resources and wealth. 

The wines of Madeira were known in this country 
before those of Spain. They have held their own in 
public estimation at the head of aU white fortified 
wines, and in fulness of flavour, aroma, and bouquet, 
combined with a degree of sweetness and body, have 



ALCOEOLS. 401 

never "beeu surpassed. The flavour is the peculiar 
characteristic of the wine, and is obtained from the 
special quality of the grape growing in the island, so 
that with the loss of the grape a few years ago the 
supply of the wine ceased ; but wine eight years old is 
again in the market, an(i before the stores of the old 
wine have entirely disappeared a new supply equal in 
quality to the old will be ready for use. 

The saccharine quality of the wine shows that its 
preparation is very like that of the Portuguese wines, 
and that the fermentation is not complete. The aro- 
matic quality increases with age, and may out-live the 
saccharine, so that very old Madeira is priceless for 
the mixer, and gives a bouquet and quality to newer 
wine, which enables the dealer to sell it as old. For 
the connoisseur in sweet wines, as well as for the in- 
valid, there is none of the class to be preferred to- old 
Madeira. 

Of our own colonies, Australia is the first in the 
race in the production of Avines, although second in 
time to the Cape of Good Hope, and has had a choice 
variety of grapes, and a good method of cultivation 
and of manufacture. There were 272 specimens of 
full bodied and light, white, and red wines exhibited 
at the recent International Exhibition at Sydney, in- 
cluding thirty-five from New South Wales, sixty from 
South Australia, and thirty-seven from Victoria, de- 
rived from well known grapes, and having much of 
the character and quality of their European congeners. 
Thus there were Hermitage and Tokay, as well as Eous- 
sette, Mataro, Gramai, Eeisling, Chasselas, and Ver- 
deilho. One grower in South Australia has, on a small 
farm of about 140 acres, a dozen kinds of vines, and 
produces excellent wines, but of a quality not to be 
exactly compared with the known vintage wines of 



402 LIQUID FOODS. 

France, Germany, and Portugal. It is probable that 
ere long it will be a great wine and brandy producing 
country, and give wines wbich, with a character of 
their own, will obtain a fixed place in our markets. 

The wines of the Cape of Good Hope have been 
known for some years by the Pontac, which is a forti- 
tied red wine, manufactured somewhat after the manner 
of Port, but differing from that wine in flavour. It 
differs also from Port, inasmuch as it is perfectly 
fermented before being fortified with alcohol. Con- 
stantia is also well known as a full bodied and fine 
flavoured white wine ; and others have been added 
of late years from Paarl, Drakenstein, Stellenbosch, 
and other wine growing districts. In general char- 
acter they are generous and moderately strong ; but 
the Sherry which has been imported into England 
for some years past has not been able to compete suc- 
cessfully in flavour and variety with that of Spain. 
Improvement both in the quality and cultivation of the 
grape, as well as in the manufacture of the wine, is 
required, and will doubtless be attained ; but the com- 
mercial condition of the colony has for many years 
been unfavourable to the development of any branch of 
trade. With renewed attention it may be exj^ected 
that the class of wines to be produced will rather 
resemble those of Spain and Portugal than of Prance 
or Germany. 

The Americans have for some years been celebrated 
for the Catawba wine, which is produced on the banks of 
the Ohio and in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and other 
Western States. The best known varieties of the grape 
growing there are the Iowa, Delaware, Diana, Catawba 
and Isabella. The sparkling wines which were exhibited 
at the International Exhibition were very good, and 
sustained the high reputation which they have in their 
own country. 



ALCOHOLS. 403 

It is, however, necessary to go further west in that 
great continent, and to reach the elevated and rocky 
districts of California in order to find a soil and cHmate 
perfectly adapted to the growth of the vine, and already 
there are large farms devoted to Ihis product, one of which 
yielded 126,000 gallons and 40,000 bottles in one year. 
Over six millions of gallons of wine, and half a million 
of gallons of brandy, besides a great quantity of dried 
raisins, are produced annually. The production and 
profit per acre are enormous, and must attract capital 
and attention to that branch of industry. 

It may-, however, be a long time before the confidence 
of Europeans in the quality and purity of the American 
wine is obtained, but in the meantime there is an 
almost unlimited market in the United States itself. 

Wines are produced from a great variety of substances 
besides the fresh grape juice. 

One of the most recherche wines of the day, Tokay, 
is produced from raisins, as is also the Muscatel, and 
wines known as raisin- wines. They are sweet and 
strong wines, and perhaps not adapted to daily use. 

The home made wines of this country, such as the 
elderberry, ginger, orange, cowslip, and coltsfoot need 
only to be mentioned, but it may be added that they are, 
with the exception of the first perhaps, weak wines, 
and require the addition of brandy. Pabn wine is ob- 
tained in Central Africa by tapping the palm tree, and 
fermenting the exuded juices. The illustration on page 
405 represents such a tree. 

The factitious wines of Hamburg and the South of 
France have lately attracted much attention, and the 
more so that b}" the addition of a portion of genuine 
wine or the admixture of an inferior with a superior 
wine, or the manufacture of various ethers and colour- 
ing matters, it becomes more and more difiicult to 



404 LIQUID FOODS. 

detect tlieir unreal character. The trade in them is 
very hirge whilst the variety which they manufacture is 
increasing yearly. 

Our space will not permit us to cite general obser- 
vations on the value of wine, but it may be interesting 
to extract a sentence from a curious yei(' d' esprit published 
by John Groue ' at Furnival's Inn Gate in Holborne, 
1629,' in the form of a dialogue, entitled ' Wine, Beere, 
and Ale, together by the Eares : ' — 

* I, Wine, comfort and preserue ; let that be my character. 
I am cosen-gerraan to the blood ; not so like in my appear- 
ance as I am in nature. I repaire the debilities of age, and 
reuine the refrigerated spirits, exhilarate the heart, and Steele 
the brow with confidence.' 

Again : — 

* I am a companion for princes. I am sent for by the citizens, 
visited by the gallants, kist by the gentlewomen. I am their 
life, their genius, the poeticall Fury, the Helicon of the Muses.' 

The action of wine upon any great vital function 
must depe-nd upon the quantity consumed, and when 
only a glass is taken, which may contain from one 
quarter to half an ounce of alcohol the effect cannot be 
very marked. It was, therefore, difficult in my experi- 
ments to determine the dose which would accord with 
the habits of the community, but it was at length de- 
termined to select three fluid ounces or a glassful and 
a half as a moderate dose to be taken on an empty 
stomach. {FhiL Trans., 1859, and ISTo. 136.) 

In a great number of experiments three ounces of 
tolerably good Sherry taken alone caused an average 
increase of 0*19 and 0-3 grain of carbonic acid expired 
per minute in myself and of 0*926 and 0*21 grain per 
minute in my friend, with maxima of 0*36, 0*44, 1*44, 
and 0'82 giair per minute. On some occasions, how- 



ALCOHOLS, 



405 



No. 141. 




The Palmyra f tilm {Borasms flabelli/ormis), 3delding Palm Wino, 



406 LIQUID FOODS. 

ever, there was a decrease in both of us vvliich amounted 
to an average ofO'32 and 0*32 gram and maxima of 
0-52 and 0*9 grain. The quantity of air inspired at 
each inspiration, and the rate of respiration always fell, 
whilst the rate of pulsation was either increased or 
unchanged (No. 136). 

Whilst, therefore, the results Avere neither great nor 
uniform, the general tendency of such a dose was to in- 
crease the vital actions. 

The aroma of wines, which are attributed to volatile 
ethers of almost unknown chemical nature, are greatly 
valued by wine drinkers, and developed by age. These, 
like the aroma of tea, may be a good guide when 
fixing the price in the market, but have little or no 
influence in wine drank as a food, so that it became 
necessary to determine their effect apart from that of 
the other elements. This seemed possible only by in- 
halation, but that process caused an uneasy sensation 
in the lungs, and could not with propriety be continued 
beyond ten minutes at a time. Four ounces of the wine 
were placed in a Woolfe's bottle and frequently shook, 
so that the air which was drawn through the bottle 
might be charged with it. 

The vapour of very fine old Port wine inspired during 
ten minutes at a time on five occasions within seventy 
minutes gave an average decrease in the quantity of 
carbonic acid evolved of 0*53 and 0*42 grain, and 
maxima of decrease of 0-87 and 0-58 grain per minute. 
The quantity of air inspired was decreased by 56 and 36 
cubic inches per minute. The rate of respiration was 
decreased in myself. A moderately pungent sensation 
was perceived in the larynx, and particularly when the 
wine was shaken. The wine in the bottle lost 40 grains 
weight and the sp. gr. was increased. Good Sherry 
wine with a bouquet, which was not persistent, and 



ALCOHOLS. 407 

wliicli did not produce any irritation in the larynx, caused 
an average decrease in the quantity of carbonic acid 
evolved of 0*12 grain, and in the quantity of air of 
eight cubic inches per minute. The vapour exhaled was 
increased from 0*707 to 0*88 grain per 100 cubic inches 
of air (No. 136). 

The general result of a long course of experiments 
showed that Port and Sherry wines of good qualities 
somewhat increased the vital actions when taken by the 
stomach, whilst their aromas, when inhaled, lessened 
those actions. 

Beer and Porter. 

These fluids have been known in all nations, and 
in all times, and that which is like our own was 
appropriately called wine of barley by Theophrastus. 
They are usually prepared from a decoction of barley, 
to which a proportion of hops is added, and by subse- 
quent fermentation and fining ; but it is believed that 
hops were not used prior to the time of Henry VIII. 
The trade in beer has increased so marvellously within 
the last thirty years that it is now one of the largest in 
this country, and occupies a prominent position in the 
manufactured products of other countries, and while 
other nations eat their meat the English are said to 
drink it. Neither the process nor the product is iden- 
tically the same everywhere, but the following descrip- 
tion may suffice to give a sufficiently clear idea. 

The finest barley is grown in England, and particu- 
larly in Norfolk and Sufiblk, where the weight of a 
bushel is 51 lbs. 100 volumes of such barley have been 
known to swell to 180 volumes after immersion in 
water ; but this is greatly above the average, and the 
weight of 100 lbs. of dry barley becomes 147 lbs. after 
steeping. 



408 LIQUID FOODS. 

Besides tlie component parts of barley already given, 
viz., starch, gluten, vegetable fibre, coagulated albu- 
men, sugar, gum, phosphate of lime, and water, there 
is a peculiar volatile oil which is produced on distilla- 
tion, and gives aroma to the beer. The female flowers 
of the hop have a yellow powder, which, on distillation, 
yields about 2 per cent, of another volatile oil, on which 
the flavour of the hop depends. It also yields the 
bitter principle termed Iwpuline, to the extent of from 
8 to 12 per cent. Upon these two principles the chief 
value of the hop depends, and they are the most abun- 
dant in the hops of Kent. New hops, like new teas, 
have a larger proportion of volatile oil than old hops, 
and there is a strife amongst the growers to bring the 
earliest supply to the market. 

From these two substances, almost exclusively, beers 
are produced; but, before they are both used, it is 
necessary that the barley should be mpJted. This pro- 
cess is effected as in the following manner. 

The barley is steeped from forty to sixty hours in a 
large cistern, in which the water is allowed to stand a 
few inches above the surface of the malt. The heavy and 
good barley sinks, whilst the light seeds remain at the 
surface and are skimmed aAvay. During this period the 
grain imbibes about half its. weight of water, and in- 
creases in volume by about one-fifth, whilst the skin 
becomes paler and the water yellower, and some car- 
bonic acid gas escapes. When the grain will shed its 
flour on pressure between the thumb and finger, it has 
been steeped sufficiently long to cause the process of 
germination to commence. The water is then drawn 
off, and the grain, having been washed, is laid in heaps 
on the ^ouch-floor for twenty-four hours. Gradually, 
the grain becomes dry, and then warmer by 10°, whilst 
it gives out an agreeable odour. The sweating stage. 



ALCOHOLS. 409 

wliicli induces germination, has now commenced, and 
the radicle sprouts, followed by the plumule. The 
greatest heat occurs in about ninety-six hours after 
removal from the bath, and the barley is now spread on 
the floor and turned over twice a day, to prevent too 
rapid germination. The grain loses about 5 per cent, in 
weight, whilst it absorbs oxygen and emits carbonic acid. 
The gluten and mucilage within the seed disappear, and 
the mass becomes friable and whiter, and the germi- 
nating process is completed within fourteen days, if the 
temperature be about 60°. The technical mode of 
determining this point is by the acrospire, or the 
growing-point, having reached the opposite end of the 
grain to that whence it sprung. The starch has become 
converted into sugar, precisely as when treated with 
diastase. 

The grain is then removed to the kiln, after having 
perceptibly lost its moisture, and is rapidly dried, which 
arrests germination, and enables the uarley to be kept 
for future use. 

Hence, the whole process of malting consists in 
inducing germination in the seed, and in at length 
arresting it at the period when much of the starch has 
been converted into sugar. During the process the 
grain has lost 20 per cent, in weight, including the 
water in the natural seed, but the bulk has been 
increased by about 8 per cent. 

The dried grain is then crushed or very roughly 
ground in a mill, and is ready for use. 

The further process of mashing is partly physical and 
partly chemical. Thus it dissolves the sugar, and other 
soluble parts of the malt, whilst, by the aid of the 
diastase and gluten, it converts the remaining starch 
into sugar, gum, and dextrine, and by a temperature 
increasing from^ 157° to 160°, all the gum and dextrine 



410 LIQUID FOODS. 

are transferred into sugar. 13 quarters of malt with 
2,400 gallons of water make 1,500 gallons of beer, 
besides the mashed grains, which contain a large 
quantity of water, and are left after the liquor has been 
drawn off. Whilst the malt is thus macerated with the 
hot water, it should be constantly stirred. A portion 
of the water is first withdrawn, and then the malt, and 
after the wort has been drawn off in a clear state, a 
further quantity of hot water is added, and the operation 
of adding and withdrawing is performed thrice. The 
first quantity will be the best, and contains the largest 
amount of extract, whilst the second has usually half of 
the first, and the third half of the second. 

The weight of the first will be about 84 lbs. 
in a barrel over that of water ; but the wort, when 
drawn off, is about 1'112, 1*091, and 1'031 specific 
gravity at the three drawings. The hops are added 
when the wort which has been drawn is put into the 
copper, and is at or near the boiling-point. For ordinary 
beer :^ lb. of hops to a bushel of malt is used, but for 
strong ale the quantity ma;y be increased to ^ lb. or 
even to 1 lb. per bushel. The effect of the hop is to 
coagulate the albuminous matter into the wort, and to 
convert the starch and hordeine into dextrine, whilst 
the tannin of the hop renders the gluten insoluble. 
By both means the beer is rendered fit for keeping, but 
the boiling must be continued for several hours, and 
the liquid will be concentrated by the loss of about one- 
seventh of its weight. 

The boiling liquor is at length run into coolers 
through the hop-back, which strains out the hops, and 
the wort is cooled to 54° or 64° as rapidly as possible, 
whilst the liquid is thus further concentrated. 

It is desirable that starch should not remain in the 



ALCOHOLS. 411 

wort, and if there be any it may be detected by adding a 
solution of iodine to it. The hotter it was when mashed, 
the less the hop, and the less time it was boiled, the 
more starch will remain. 

The next process is that of fermentation by the addi- 
tion of 1 gallon of yeast to 100 gallons of wort, during 
which a portion of the saccharine matter is converted 
into alcohol, but only a portion, for some must remain 
to prevent the acetous fermentation, and even the con- 
version of the alcohol into acid. The chemical change 
which occurs when sugar is entirely decomposed may 
be readily shown. Sugar is composed of C 12 H 14 14, 
and those elements will produce 2 atoms of alcohol 
(C 4 H 6 2), 4 atoms of carbonic acid (C 0^), and 2 
atoms of water (HO). Some of the sugar is, however, 
not entirely decomposed, but is degraded by the removal 
of 4 atoms of oxygen and 4 of hydrogen to grape sugar 
and dextrine, which have the composition of starch. 
The temperature is kept at about 64° in winter and BB"" 
in summer. The fermentation is active in six or eight 
hours, and carbonic acid gas is largely disengaged, and 
rises with the scum to the surface. The temperature 
at the highest point varies from 10° to 15°. During 
the process the beer is drawn off and cleansed. The 
quantity of yeast varies with the kind of ale, and is 
less as the temperature is high. 

Table beer contains about five per cent, of malt 
extract, and has a specific gravity of 1*025. Medium ales 
have a density of about 1*040, and seven per cent, of 
extract, whilst strong ales have a specific gravity of 1*050 
to 1*060. 

The colour of the beer depends upon the colour or 
drying of the malt and the duration of the boiling. 

The fining of the beer is a mechanical process, and is 



412 



LIQUID rOODS. 



best effected by means of isinglass, which being dissolved 
in water and added to the beer, combines with the tannin 
of the hops, and both together carry down the muddy 
particles. 

The following table, by Allen, shows the quantit}^ of 
saccharine matter remaining in beers according to the 
specific gravity : — 

No. 142. 



Sp. Gr. of 
the worts 

1-0700 . 


Saccharine matter 
per barrel 
lbs. 
. 6500 


Sp. Gr. of 
the ale 

1-0285 . 


Saccharhie matter 
per barrel 
lbs. 
. 25-00 


1-0780 . 


. 73-75 


1-0280 . 


. 24-25 


1-0829 . 


. 78-125 


1-0205 . 


. 16-87 


1-0862 . 


. 80-625 


10236 


. 20-00 


1-0918 . 


. 85-62 


1-0420 


. 38-42 


1-0950 . 


. 88-75 


1-0500 


. 40-25 


1-1002 . 


. 93-75 


1-0400 


. 36-25 


1-1025 . 


. 95-93 


1-0420 


. 38-42 


1-1030 . 


. 96-40 


1-0271 


. 23-42 


1-1092 . 


. 102-187 


1-0302 


. 26-75 


1-1130 . 


. 105-82 


1-0352 


. 31-87 



The quantity of alcohol which is present in beer dif- 
fers extremely, but it bears a relation to the amount of 
saccharine matter which was fermented in the brewing. 
Brande in his day found 4-20 per cent, of alcohol (specific 
gravity 0*825), in porter; 8'88 per cent, in ale; and 6*80 
per cent, in brown stout. At the present day there 
may be 10 per cent, in the strong East India pale ale, 
and 15 or 20 per cent, in many old home-brewed ales 
stored for private use ; but usually the amount varies 
from 5 to 7 per cent, in moderately good ales, and may 
be only 1 to 3 per cent, in small beer. Hence, one pint 
of strong home-brewed ale may contain as much alcohol 
as is found in several bottles of good claret wine ; but, 
as a general expression, a pint of good ale is equal 
in that respect to a bottle of fairly good claret. 



ALCOHOLS. 413 

It is well known that the quality of beer depends in 
some degree upon the water which is used in its pre- 
paration. That used by the Messrs. Allsopp contains 
29 grains of lime and magnesian sulphate and 17 grains 
of earthy constituents, whilst that at Messrs. Bass & 
Co.'s has no less than 54J grains of sulphate of lime 
per gallon. 

The adulteration of beer is a subject too technical, 
and perhaps too large, to be discussed at length here. 
It occurs almost exclusively at the retailer's, and has 
one of the following objects : — 1. To increase the quan- 
tity; 2. To give intoxicating power; 3. To increase 
the colour and flavour; 4. To create pungency and 
thirst ; and 5. To revive old beer. The first is effected 
simply by adding water or a weaker beer, and has the 
effect of lowering the proportion of all the constituents 
and of lessening the flavour. The second is effected 
by adding tobacco or the seeds of the Gocculus indicus ; 
the third, by adding burnt sugar, liquorice or treacle, 
quassia instead of hops, coriander and carraway seeds ; 
the fourth, by the addition of cayenne pepper or com- 
mon salt ; and the fifth, by shaking stale ale with green 
vitriol or alum and common salt. 

The effect of beers will necessarily vary both with 
their composition and the quantity which may be 
taken ; but for experiment it is needful to select good 
standard qualities and a moderate dose, and in our 
experiments it was as follows : — 

Ten ounces, or half an imperial pint of good Dublin 
stout, gave an average increase of 0*85 and 0*81 grain, 
and maxima of increase of 1'56 and 1*02 grain of car- 
bonic acid per minute in the expired air. The quantity 
of air inspired was increased by 41 and 46 cubic inches 
per minute, whilst the rate of respiration varied some- 



414 LIQUID FOODS. 

what. The rate of pulsation was increased by 4 and 7 
beats per minute, and the depth of inspiration was in- 
creased by 1*6 cubic inch (ISTo. 136.) 

On other occasions the maximum increase in the quan- 
tity of carbonic acid evolved was 1*16 and 0*98 grain 
per minute. 

The same quantity of fine old Hertfordshire ale, which 
had become a little acid, gave an average increase of 
0*6 and 0*27 grain and maxima of 1"4 and 0*36 grain 
of carbonic acid per minute in the expired air. The 
volume of air inspired was increased by 60 cubic inches 
per minute. The rate of pulsation and respiration was 
scarcely changed (No. 136). 

Hence, we have iu beer substances which in their 
action are very like good foods, although the amount of 
action is not equal to that produced from bread or milk. 

Various light beers had a less degree of influence, 
but the effect w^as in the same direction, and for a time 
they increased the vital actions. 

In the jeu d^ esprit, already referred to on p. 404, there 
are two stanzas of a song, in which are described cer- 
tain qualities of ale and beer as compared with wine. 

' Wine. I, iouiall Wine, exhilarate the heart. 
Beere. Marche-Beere is drinke for a king. 
Ale. But Ale, bonny Ale, with spice and a tost, 

In the mornino^'s a daintie thinc^. 
Chorus. Then let vs be merry, wash sorrow away, 

Wine, Beere, and Ale shall be drunke to-day. 

Wine. I, generous Wine, am for the Court. 

Beere. The Citie calles for Beere, 

Ale. But Ale, bonny Ale, like a lord of the soyle, 

In the Countrey shall domineere. 
Chorus. Then let vs be merry, wash sorrow away, 

Wine, Beere, and Ale shall be drunke to-day.* 



ALCOHOLS. 415 

Cider and Perry. 

These refreshing fluids, the ordinary drink of our 
forefathers, are prepared from the fermented juice of 
the apple and pear, and in their composition and in 
many of their properties are not unlike wines from the 
grape. They contain alcohol in proportions varying 
from 5 to 10 per cent., saccharine matter, lactic acid, 
and other products. 

The manufacture is very simple, and consists in crush- 
ing the apples with a roller, and straining the juice and 
pulp through sieves, which, after a short delay, is put 
into barrels for fermentation. 

They are drank very largely in the counties where 
they are made, as in Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, 
and Devonshire ; and although new cider may be drunk 
in quantities of several pints without intoxication, older 
and better qualities are as intoxicating as good ale. 
When in prime condition they are sparkling, highly 
agreeable, and refreshing, but, without the tonic property 
of ale, and constitute, perhaps, no inconsiderable por- 
tion of the so-called champagne. Indeed, fine sparkling 
perry is a delicious beverage. 

It is said that natural cider or perry will not keep 
if it be removed in cask after it has been prepared, 
and in order to fortify it to bear a journey in cask, 
it is common to add sugar. This so far injures it 
that it may renew the acetous fermentation, but it 
temporarily masks the acid flavour, and makes the fluid 
more agreeable to the palate of those not accustomed 
to its use. 

It is the practice to give the labourers in the cider 
districts the large quantity of half a gallon or a gallon 
of cider daily, as a part of their wages ; but it cannot 
be recommended on the ground either of economy or 
morals. It is s^id that rheumatism prevails where these 
19 



416 LIQUID FOODS. 

lactic acid bevera.ges abound, and, on tlie otlier band, 
fhat cases of calculi in the bladder are almost unknown. 
In my experiments on good bottled cider there was 
an increase in tbe carbonic acid evolved in respiration, 
as well as in the quantity of air inspired, very similar to 
that from a moderately good beer, but the effect was 
neither so great nor so enduring. The sense of 
warmth and comfort which followed the use of cider 
was not so great as from ale ; but the results of the 
enquiry proved that the effect of good cider and perry 
is clearly that of a food, and nearly equal to that of 
beer. 

GmGEE-BEER— Teeacle-Beer. 

These familiar refreshing beverages are agreeable, 
and so far useful ; but they are food only in a very 
limited sense. They, however, contain about one per 
cent, of alcohol, a proportion sufficient to bring them 
under the rule of the Excise, if it were strictly en- 
forced. 

Other Fermented Liquors. 

Numerous preparations are made in various parts of 
the world which correspond in character with our 
spirits and beer. 

Quass is a beer made in Russia from rye instead of 
barley. 

Chica is a beer used from time immemorial in South 
America, and is prepared chiefly from maize, but also 
from barley, rice, manioc, pine-apples, or grapes. 

Weisbier is made in Germany from a mixture of 
wheat and rye. 

Bouza is a fermented drink in Tartary, which is pre- 
pared from the millet seed. 

Murrua is a fermented liquor in use at Darjeeling 



ALCOHOLS. 417 

and on the southern slopes of the Himalayas in India, 
of which 1 or 1|- pint is drank at a time. 

Teff is prepared by the Arabians and Abyssinians, 
from the seeds of the Poa Ahyssinica, and from millet. 

Honey wine is in constant use in Abyssinia. 

Fermented drinks are frequently made from milk, as 
Koumiss in Tarfcary, Lehan in Arabia, Yaoust in Turkey, 
and sour milk in many parts of America, Ireland, 
Scotland, and the Northern Isles. 

Ava is prepared in the South Sea Islands, from the 
long pepper. 

A sweet beer is made from maize or millet in South 
Africa. 

In the preparation of some of these, the ferment used 
is the saliva, which, however disgusting to us, is very 
efficient. 

From the statement of the chemical effects of the 
various members of the class of alcohols, it has been 
shown that as foods, beers occupy the first place, then 
cider and perry, and then wines, and as they sustain 
and increase vital action, they must be allowed to be 
true foods. Of ardent spirits, rum alone exliibits the 
action of a food, while gin, brandy, and whiskey, act 
as medicines by lessening vital action. But the whole 
class disturb the vital actions, and prevent a uniform 
course of change, and have much more the character 
of a medicine than a food, as was stated in my com- 
munication to the Royal Society already referred to. 

They however seem to exert actions other than 
chemical, and although not those of food alone, they 
are frequently associated with and go in aid of the 
influence of food. 

Thus, the tendency of all the class, but particularly 
of those members which abound in alcohol, is to lessen 
the action of, oi^ in other words, to dry the skin — a 



418 LIQUID FOODS. 

tendency wliicli is as marked as the effect of the spirit 
upon the sensorium and vital actions. Thus, the hands 
and feet, and the skin generally, become hot and dry, 
and an intoxicated man in a state of perspiration would 
be a lusus naturce. 

With such an action (which, however, is universal 
in reference to the elimination of water from the body), 
other results must follow. The cooling of the body is 
lessened by the diminution in the quantity of fluid 
emitted by the skin, which is converted into vapour, 
with an enormous absorption of latent heat. The blood 
is diverted from the circumference towards the centres, 
so that the pulse becomes fuller and harder, and the 
liver and other large circulation-centres receive more 
blood. The tendency of both these effects is to increase 
vital processes, and therefore may be of the greatest 
service in a state of body in which such is needed, or of 
injury when not needed. 

The internal secretions are diminished, so that the 
larynx, moufch, and throat are dry, and the bowels con- 
stipated, and thus the tendency to congestion of the 
circulation-centres is increased, with beneficial or inju- 
rious tendencies according to the requirements of the 
system. 

The relation of these actions to food is such, that 
when they are required they cause a necessity for 
increased food, but when not required they lessen the 
necessity for food. The tendency of all food, but par- 
ticularly of animal food, is in the same direction, so 
that the skin is drier after than before dinner, other 
things being equal. 

The action upon the sensorium and nervous centres 
clearly depends upon the quantity of alcohol which 
is taken in a given time, other things being equal. 
When there is a perceptible effect, or an approach to it, 



ALCOHOLS. 419 

there is relaxation of the animal tissues, and particu- 
larly the muscles, so that contraction is less easily 
and fully effected. Where there are flat thin muscles, 
which act upon the skin, as of the forehead and face, 
their relaxation is shown by the falling of the features. 
The capability to continue exertion is also lessened, at 
least in the degree in which the readiness to make 
it is lessened. The direct tendency of alcohol is to 
diminish muscular power in a state of health, but 
indirectly it may have the contrary effect by im- 
proving the tone of the system through the appetite 
and digestion of food. In the state of body in which 
alcohol has reduced muscular contractility, all the 
vital actions temporarily languish; and so far the 
action of alcohol is opposed to foods, and it is not a 
food. The tendency to congestion of the blood centres 
is shown h j the post-mortem state of such as are internal, 
and by the fulness of the vessels of the face and head, 
which gives the man's face an unusual redness, and the 
cock's comb a remarkable brightness, fulness, and 
redness. 

Whilst the food-action of beer and wine may be 
accounted for by their known nutritive elements, other 
than alcohol, which they contain, much difference of 
opinion exists as to the true action of alcohol itself, 
a,nd the problem to be solved is whether it acts phy- 
sically or chemically. It is presumed that the actions 
just described are physical in their character, as are 
also those upon food immersed in alcohol, or alcohol 
and water, when it is hardened and the process of 
digestion retarded; and if it be shown that alcohol, 
whilst in the system, is not transformed, and does 
not enter into new combinations, but leaves the body 
as it entered it, its action cannot be that of a food. 
Hence, the proof is diligently sought as to the trans- 



420 LIQUID FOODS. 

formation or non-transformation of alcohol in the 
system. Up to a comparatively recent period it was 
assumed that the alcohol was transformed within the 
system, and was therefore a food, yet it had been shown 
by Dr. Percy and others, that after alcohol had been 
given to rabbits, it was found unchanged in the brain 
and other internal organs after twenty-four or thirty-six 
hours— a fact opposed to the idea of change. 

MM. Lallemand, Perrin, and Duroy instituted 
special experiments, from which they showed that after 
alcohol had been administered it passed off by every 
outlet of the body for many hours, giving the reaction 
of alcohol or of aldehyde, and thence they thought 
that they had proved that it did not suffer any chemical 
change within the system. 

I repeated and enlarged these experiments, and found 
alcohol in the transpiration from the skin and lungs, 
and in the urine and faeces for more than twenty-four 
hours after taking 2 oz. of brandy in water ; all of 
which supported the conclusions of M. Lallemand. 

But it had not been proved by actual collection of 
the whole of the alcohol that none had been transformed, 
and the argument went only to the length of showing 
that some alcohol was eliminated by every outlet, and so 
continued for thirty- six hours, whilst after that period 
unchanged alcohol had been found by Dr. Percy in 
the brain and other organs. To collect all the products 
of respiration and perspiration for so long a period as 
thirty-six or forty-eight hours was a Herculean if not 
impossible task, and if collected it would be most dif- 
ficult so to isolate it as to measure and weigh it. Still 
it may not be impossible to effect this object by a suffi- 
ciently complete apparatus which should enclose the 
body and take account of the expired air. 

These experiments have been repeated by several 



ALCOHOLS. 421 

chemists, and some of tliem, as Dr. Dupre, have denied 
the inference drawn by M. Lallemand, because only a 
portion of the alcohol could be recovered; whilst others, 
as M. Subbotin, whilst admitting the fact, denied that 
it proved that the remaining portion must be transformed 
and act as food. M. Subbotin experimented upon 
rabbits enclosed in a proper apparatus, and found that 
during the first five hours only about 2 per cent, was 
eliminated by the kidneys and 4 per cent, by the lungs 
and skin, whilst during twenty- four hours only 16 per 
cent, could be recovered. He, however, regarded it as 
essential that a food must aid in the transformation of 
living material, and he denied this power to alcohol. 

The determination of the question may in some part, 
at least, depend upon the meaning of words, and par- 
ticularly as to what is a food. I have given my 
definition of a food at the commencement of this work ; 
but M. Yoit, to whom physiological chemistry owes 
so much, has given another, and one with which I 
cannot concur. He writes as follows : — 

* I do not agree entirely with Dr. Subbotin in his views on 
the importance of alcohol as a nutriment. I define a nutri- 
ment as a substance which is capable of furnishing to the 
body any of its necessary constituents or of preventing the 
removal of such constituents from the body. To the first 
class belong such substances as albumen (since it can be de- 
posited as such in the body), or fat or water or the mineral 
constituents of the body ; to the second class belong such sub- 
stances as starch, which hinders the loss of fat from the body. 
If a nutriment is defined as a substance which by decom- 
position furnishes living force to the body, the definition 
would not be exhaustive, for it would exclude water and 
the mineral constituents of the body. Alcohol must, there- 
fore, to a certain extent, be regarded as a nutriment, since, 
under its influence, fewer substances are decomposed in the 
body. It plays in this respect a similar (though quantita- 



422 LIQUID FOODS. 

tively very different) part to that of starch, which also pro- 
tects fat from decomposition and, when taken in excess, causes 
deposition of fat in the organs or fatty degeneration. If a 
part of the alcohol is decomposed in the body into lower forms 
of chemical combination it must give rise to living force, 
which either benefits the body in the form of heat or may 
perhaps be used for the performance of mechanical work ; 
the same is true of acetic acid, which is also not to be con- 
sidered as an ultimate excretory product, and from which, 
therefore, in decomposition potential force passes into living 
force. 

It is another question, however, when we ask what import- 
ance alcohol has for us as a nutriment, and whether we take 
it in order to save fat from decomposition and furnish us with 
living force, in other words, to introduce a nutriment into the 
body. Since alcohol, when taken in considerable amount, 
causes disturbances in the processes of -the animal economy, 
we cannot introduce it in quantities sufficient for nourishment 
as we do other nutriments, and in the amount which we can 
take without injury its importance as a nutriment is too 
small to be considered. In this point, then, I agree entirely 
with Dr. Subbotin ; we use alcohol not on account of its im- 
portance as a nutriment, but on account of its effects as a 
stimulant or relish.' 

It is quite true that the definition given by M. Sub- 
botin is too restricted, and that water is truly a food, 
but we cannot admit that the claim of starch to be a 
food rests solely, or indeed in any considerable degree, 
on its power to restrain the consumption of fat, for 
surely the changes through which starch passes are 
accompanied at every step by the production of heat, 
whether it forms sugar, which is directly emitted as 
carbonic acid, or first produces fat. Moreover, a sub- 
stance which prevents the removal of the necessary 
constituents acts as a medicine — for in so preventing it 
develops no force — and not as a food. 



ALCOHOLS. 423 

The state of the argument is still very much as I 
put it in my communication to the Society of Arts, in 
1857, viz. : that whilst it is desirable to complete the proof 
by collecting all, or nearly all, the alcohol which was 
administered, the task is a Herculean if not an impos- 
sible one ; for if it were practicable to collect all that 
was emitted within thirty-six hours — the largest period 
at which it has as yet been determined — and to deter- 
mine its nature in the smallest quantities, there would 
remain an amount within the body which, according to 
Dr. Percy, can be proved to be unchanged. To ask foi- 
so much proof is scarcely reasonable ; and may we not 
add, from the analogy of other foods, that any large 
portion passing ofi* unchanged is a strong argumeiit that 
all is unchanged, and particularly when, after so long a 
period as nearly two days, some remains in the body 
unchanged ? If we enter on the consideration of the 
subject with the belief that it is a food, we may still 
think it possible that a portion may be transformed 
and act as a food when another portion was proved to 
be not transformed, but the probability is on the other 
side if we regard alcohol as a medicine. One of the 
deductions which Dr. Parkes has drawn from his expe- 
riments, is that the capillary circulation is increased by 
alcohol, because the vessels were fuller, and the tissues 
appeared more vascular ; but, in my opinion, it was 
precisely the reverse, and whilst there was more blood 
in the capillaries there was less circulation. This is 
quite in accord with experiments which have shown 
that division of the sympathetic nerve caused congestion 
of the capillaries — that is to say, fulness of the vessels 
with little circulation ; and it cannot be doubted that 
this action of alcohol is chiefly upon the sympathetic 
system, and lessens its influence. There is for a time 
increased fulness of the pulse, because it is due to 



424 LIQUID FOODS. 

increase of tlie vis a tergo, tliat is to say, to lessened 
capillary circulation, whilst, at the same time, the action 
of the heart itself is irritable and unsteady. 

It has been popularly believed that the drinking of 
alcohols was peculiar to man, but there is every reason 
to believe that the brute may descend to the level 
of man and acquire a taste for them. Thus the horse 
enjoys ale with oatmeal and water, drinking it to the 
last drop ; and experiments recently made show that 
the common fowl soon acquires a taste for it, which is 
followed by congestion of the comb, deterioration of the 
vital processes, and death within about two months. 

Other examples of this kind are cited by Dr. B. W. 
Richardson, in a very agreeably written article in the 
'Popular Science Eeview' for April, 1872; and as I 
concur in much that he has therein stated, I will 
transcribe his conclusions : — 

'1. In the first place we gather from the physiological read- 
ing of the action of alcohol that the agent is a narcotic. I 
have compared it throughout to chloroform, and the compa- 
rison is good in all respects save one, viz., that alcohol is less 
fatal than chloroform as an immediate destroyer. It kills 
certainly in its own way to the extent, according to Dr. De 
• Marmond, of fifty thousand persons a year in England, and 
ten thousaijd a year in Russia, but its method of killing is 
slow, indirect, and by painful disease. 

2. The woll-proven fact that alcohol, when it is taken into 
the body, reduces the animal temperature, is full of the most 
important suggestions. The fact shows that alcohol does not 
in any sense act as a supplier of vital heat, as is so commonly 
supposed, and that it does not prevent the loss of heat as 
those imagine " who take just a drop to keep out the cold." 
It shows, on the contrary, that cold and alcohol in their effects 
on the body ran closely together, an opinion more fully con- 
firmed by the experience of those who live or travel in cold 
regions of the earth. The experiences of the Arctic voyagers, 



ALCOHOLS. 425 

of the leaders of the gi-eat Naj^oleonic campaign in Russia, 
of the good monks of St. Bernard, all testify that death from 
cold is accelerated by its ally alcohol. Experiments with alcohol 
in extreme cold tell the like story, while the chilliness of body 
which succeeds upon even a moderate excess of alcoholic 
indulgence leads direct to the same indication of truth. 

3. The conclusive evidence now in our possession that 
alcohol taken into the animal body sets free the heart, so as 
to cause the excess of motion of which the record has been 
given above, is proof that the heart, under the frequent in- 
fluence of alcohol, must undergo deleterious change of struc- 
ture. It may, indeed, be admitted in proper fairness, that 
when the heart is passing through this rapid movement it is 
working under less pressure than when its movements are 
slow and natural ; and this allowance must needs be made, or 
the inference would be that the organ ought to stop at once 
in function by the excess of strain put upon it. At the same 
time the excess of motion is unquestionably injurious to the 
heart and to the body at large : it subjects the body in all its 
parts to irregularity of supply of blood ; it subjects the heart 
to the same injurious influence ; it weakens and, as a necessary 
sequence, degrades both the body and the heart. 

4. Speaking honestly, I cannot, by any argument yet pre- 
sented to me, admit the alcohols by any sign that should 
distinguish them from other chemical substances of the ex- 
citing and depressing narcotic class. When it is physiologi- 
cally understood that what is called stimulation or excitement 
is, in absolute fact, a relaxation, I had nearly said a paralysis, 
of one of the most important mechanisms in the animal body 
— the minute, resisting, compensating circulation — we grasp 
quickly the error in respect to the action of stimulants in 
which we have been educated, and obtain a clear solution of 
the well known experience that all excitement, all passion, 
leaves, after its departure, lowness of heart, depression of mind, 
sadness of spirit. We learn, then, in respect to alcohol, that 
the temporary excitement it produces is at the expense of the 
animal force, and that the ideas of its being necessary to resort 
to it, that it may lift up the forces of the animal body into 



426 LIQUID FOODS. 

trae and firm and even activity, or that it may add something 
useful to the living tissues, are errors as solemn as they are 
widely disseminated. In the scientific education of the people 
no fact is more deserving of special comment than this fact, 
that excitement is wasted force, the running down of the 
animal m.eclianism before it has served out its time of 
motion. 

5. It will be said that alcohol cheers the weary, and that to 
take a little wine for the stomacb's sake is one of those lessons 
that comes from the deep recesses of human nature. I am 
not so obstinate as to deny this argument. There are times 
in the life of man when the heart is oppressed, when the re- 
sistance to its motion is excessive, and when blood flows 
languidly to the centres of life, nervous and muscular. In 
these moments alcohol cheers. It lets loose the heart from its 
oppression, it lets flow a brisker current of blood into the 
failing organs ; it aids nutritive changes, and altogether is of 
temporary service to man. So far alcohol is good, and if its 
use could be limited to this one action, this one purpose, it 
would be amongst the most excellent gifts of nature to man- 
kind. Unhappily, the border line between this use and the 
abuse of it, the temptation to extend beyond the use, the 
habit to apply the nse when it is not wanted as readily as 
when it is wanted, overbalance, in the multitude of men, the 
temporary value that attaches truly to alcohol as a physiologi- 
cal agent. Hence alcohol becomes a dangerons instrument 
even in the hands of the strong and wise, a murderous instru- 
ment in the hands of the foolish and weak. Used too frequently, 
used too excessively, the agent that in moderation cheers the 
failing body, relaxes its parts too extremely; spoils vital organs; 
makes the course of the circulation slow, imperfect, irregular ; 
suggests the call for more stimulation ; tempts to renewal 
of the evil, and ruins the mechanism of the healthy animal 
before its hour for ruin, by natural decay, should be at all 
near. 

6. It is assumed by most persons that alcohol gives strength, 
and we hear feeble persons saying daily that they are being 
kept up by stimulants. This means actually that they are 



ALCOHOLS. 427 

being kept down, but the sensation they derive from the im- 
mediate action of the stimulant deceives them and leads them 
to attribute lasting good to what, in the large majority of cases, 
is persistent evil. The evidence is all-perfect that alcohol gives 
no potential power to brain or muscle. During the first stage 
of its action it may enable a wearied or feeble organism to do 
brisk work for a short time ; it may make the mind briefly 
brilliant ; it may excite muscle to quick action, but it does 
nothing at its own cost, fills up nothing it has destroyed as 
it Leads to destruction. A fire makes a brilliant sight, but it 
leaves a desolation ; and thus with alcohol. 

On the muscular force the very slightest excess of alcoholic 
influence is injurious. I find by measuring the power of 
muscle for contraction in the natural state and under alcohol, 
that so soon as there is a distinct indication of muscular dis- 
turbance, there is also indication of muscular failure, and if I 
wished, by scientific experiment, to spoil for work the most 
perfect specimen of a working animal, say a horse, without 
inflicting mechanical injury, I could choose no better agent 
for the purpose of the experiment than alcohol. But alas ! 
the readiness with which strong well-built men slip into 
general paralysis under the continued influence of this false 
support, attests how unnecessary it were to put a lower animal 
to the proof of an experiment. The experiment is a custom, 
and man is the subject. 

7. It may be nrged that men take alcohol, nevertheless, 
take it freely and yet live ; that the adult Swede drinks his 
average cup of twenty-five gallons of alcohol per year and yet 
remains on the face of the earth. I admit force even in this 
argument, for I know that under the persistent use of alcohol 
there is a secondary provision for the continuance of life. In 
the confirmed alcoholic the alcohol is in a certain sense so 
disposed of that it fits, as it were, the body for a long season, 
nay, becomes part of it ; and yet it is silently doing its fatal 
tN^ork : all the organs of the body are slowly being brought 
into a state of adaptation to receive it and to dispose of it ; 
but in that very preparation they are themselves undergoing 
physical changes tending to the destruction of their function 



428 LIQUID FOODS. 

and to perversion of their structure. Thus, the origin of 
alcoholic phthisis, of cirrhosis of the liver, of degeneration of 
the kidney, of disease of the membranes of the brain, of disease 
of the substance of the brain and spinal cord, of degeneration 
of the heart, and of all those varied modifications of organic 
parts which the dissector of the human subject so soon learns 
to observe — almost without concern, and certainly without 
anything more than commonplace curiosity — as the devasta- 
tions incident to alcoholic indulgence. Thus, the origin of 
such a Report as that of Mr. Everrett on the Census of America 
in 1860, related by Dr. De Marmon in the ' New York Medical 
Journal ' for December 1870: — 

"For the last ten years the use of spirits has — 1. Imposed 
on the nation a direct expense of 600,000,000 dollars. 2. Has 
caused an indirect expense of 600,000,000 dollars. 3. Has 
destroyed 300,000 lives. 4. Has sent 100,000 children to the 
poorhouses. 5. Has committed at least 150,000 people into 
prisons and workhouses. 6. Has made at least 1,000 insane. 
7. Has determined at least 2,000 suicides. 8. Has caused the 
loss, by fire or violence, of at least 10,000,000 dollars' worth 
of property. 9. Has made 200,000 widows and 1,000,000 
orphans." ' 

It seems desirable before concluding our observations 
on this subject, to refer for a moment to the contrast in 
the action of alcohol, and alcohols on the one hand and 
of tea and coffee on the other. The leading action of 
alcohol is as a narcotic upon the sympathetic nervous 
system, whilst that of tea and coffee is as an excitant 
upon the cerebro-spinal and particularly the respiratory 
system, whilst the action upon the cerebrum of the one 
is directly opposed to that of the other. As this ques- 
tion has remained unchanged since the period of my 
experiments in 1858, I will quote the conclusions at 
which I arrived, from the ' Philosophical Transactions ' 
for 1859 :— 



ALCOHOLS. 429 

* Abstract of the Effects of Alcohols. 

* 1. That the presence of alcohol, being one amongst many 
elements, and that one varying greatly in quantity, is an in- 
sufficient ground for classification, and does not give a common 
action to the members of this class. 

2. The direct action of pure alcohol was much more iio 
increase than to lessen the respiratory changes, and sometimes 
the former effect was well pronounced. Small doses repeated 
had a^ more uniform and persistent effect than would have 
followed the administration of the whole at once. The indirect 
action, as, for example, in lessening the appetite for food, and 
the mode of its action, I have not investigated. 

3. Brandy, whiskey, and gin, and particularly the latter, 
almost always lessened the respiratory changes recorded, whilst 
rum as commonly increased them. Rum and milk had a very 
pronounced and persistent action, and there was no effect upon 
the sensorium. Ale and porter always increased them, whilst 
sherry wine lessened the quantity of air inspired, but slightly 
increased the carbonic acid evolved. 

4. The volatile elements of alcohol, gin, rum, and sherry 
and port wine, when inhaled, lessened the quantity of carbonic 
acid exhaled, and usually lessened the quantity of air inhaled. 
The effect of fine old port wine was very decided and uniform ; 
and it is known that wines and spirits improve in aroma and 
become weaker in alcohol by age. The excito-respiratory 
action of rum is probably not due to its volatile elements. 

5. The quantity of vapour exhaled from the lungs was 
increased during the inhalation of the volatile elements of 
wines and spirits, without the quantity of air having increased. 
When gin was drank, the quantity of vapour in the expired 
air was lessened, whilst it was increased under the influence 
of alcohol, in about the same degree as during the inhalation 
of that substance. Hence the exhalation of vapour and car- 
bonic acid are not parallel acts. 

6. The rate of respiration was in almost all instances lessened 
in both of us, whilst that of pulsation was as constantly in- 
creased in myself, but not in Mr. Moul. 



430 LIQUID FOODS. 

7. The relation between the quantity of carbonic acid ex- 
pired and the volume of air inspired was usually increased at 
the period of maximum influence. 

8. The variation in the results was greater than the statement 
of the average and maximum effects indicates, as may be seen 
in the Tables and Plates. 

The general effects upon the system of these substances may 
be thus epitomised : — 

1. There is not an exact correspondence in time and intensity 
of the effects upon consciousness, sensibihty, and respiration, 
and their principal influence is not upon the respiratory function. 
They disturb the vital actions. 

2. There were two sets of effects in each of the enquiries on 
spirits. 

A. The early effects, consisting of — 

Lessened consciousness, with cloudiness, swimming or 
giddiness, beginning in less than 10 minutes, and 
increasing during about 30 minutes. 

Lessened sensibility to light, sound, and touch. 

Wavy or buzzing sensation passing through the wholy 
body ; and a semi-cataleptic state, in which there 
•was indisposition to move any part of the body from 
the then existing position. 

These occurred at the same period as : 

Lessened voluntary muscular power and control, with 
sensation of stiffness and hanging of the upper lip, 
and stiffness of the face and forehead, beginning in 
8 minutes, and continuing about 45 minutes. The 
dartos was relaxed, and the erector penis and the 
sphincter of the bladder were rendered less effective. 
The action of the heart and arteries was increased, as 
was that of the muscles of inspiration, with a sen- 
sation of sudden and forcible action, to a greater 
degree than the quantity of air inspired accounted 
for. There was certainly a difference in the effect 
upon the muscles subject to, and not subject to, 
volition. 
Lessened transpiration of vapour from the lungs 



ALCOHOLS. 431 

during J to 1 hour, with dryness of the skin (as if 
it had been induced by an east wind), and particu- 
larly with rum. Increased arterial action near to 
the surface in 8 minutes, with heat, tingling and 
swelling of the skin, and a dry state of the whole 
mouth, with whiskey; and dryness, redness, and 
soreness of the tip of the tongue with rum. 

Pleasant dreaminess and talkativeness, particularly 
with rum, in 13 to 15 minutes. 
B. The later effects. 

Taciturnity in from 18 to 80 minutes, followed by de- 
pression and a miserable feeling in from 60 to 90 
minutes. 

Sensation of cold often occurred suddenly and apart 
from the temperature of the air in about 50 minutes. 

The principal influence over consciousness and sensi- 
bility was often lessened suddenly, and the effects of 
the alcohol nearly disappeared at the following 
periods : 71 to 73 minutes with alcohol ; 43 to 120 
minutes with rum ; 66 to 84 minutes with whiskey ; 
46 to 80 minutes with brandy, and 68 minutes with 
gin. 

1. That tea, coffee, chicory and cocoa are respiratory exci- 
tants, whilst coffee leaves depress the respiratory function. 

2. The uniformity in the direction of the results is exceed- 
ingly striking, whilst the degree of influence is to a certain 
extent variable. 

3. Tea is the most powerful, then coffee and cocoa, and 
lastly, chicory. 

4. The rate of respiration was sometimes a little increased 
and at others a little decreased, but the depth of inspiration 
was always largely increased. The rate of pulsation was 
usually slightly increased. 

5. With the addition of an acid the effect was somewhat 
lessened, and the rate of both functions was increased to a 
greater degree than with tea alone. 

6. The addition of an alkali also lessened the effect of tea, 
and a fixed alkali totally destroyed its influence. 



432 LIQUID FOODS. 

7. The action of acids and alkalies varies with the state of 
the system and in different persons. 

8. The addition of sugar and milk in the ordinary way in- 
creased the effect. 

9. Small doses of tea, frequently repeated, have much 
greater effect than the tot^i qaitntifcy taken at once. 

10. Cold tea, and tea iiifased and kept 24 hours, has as 
much effect as when hot and rececLtly made 

11. Green tea has somewhat more influence than black tea, 
and particularly in lessening the rate and increasing the depth 
of respiration. 

12. The proportion of the carbonic acid to the quantity of 
air inspired was always increased at the period of maximum 
influence. 

13. Mr. Moul experienced much greater effect from tea than 
myself. He is exceedingly fond of tea, is not fond of coffee, 
and dislikes acids, and in the above experimen-^s the results 
corresponded. 

14. The influence of both tea and coffee is exerted almost 
immediately, viz., in 5 minutes, and the maximum is attained in 
from 25 to 60 minutes. The duration varies from 1 to 2 hours. 
In all these particulars there is a variation in different persons. 

15. With tea we frequently found nausea in 10 minutes, 
and sometimes to a very unpleasant degree, but it left in 10 or 

15 minutes. There was also a soothing or narcotic effect at 
first on several occasions, and when it had been taken with an 
alkali this effect was continued to the end ; whilst on the other 
hand the influence was more stimulating with the acid. There 
was great freedom of inspiration, and sometimes of expiration 
also, in about 40 to 70 minutes, and with this there was a 
feeling of lightness and clearness. The pulse was always soft, 
and the skin moist or soft. 

16. With coffee there was no nausea or soothing ; the pulse 
was sometimes feeble, and the pulsation in the head and hands 
more perceptible. There was often an uncomfortable sensation 
in the small intestines and forcing at the rectum, and not un- 
frequently a sense of constriction about the diaphragm in from 

16 to 40 minutes. There was more action upon the kidneys 
than with tea. The skin was often hot and dry.' 



ALCOHOLS. 433 

T cannot, perhaps, close this account of the action 
of alcohol, and the popular belief in the antidotal effect 
of tea, better than by the following amusing incident 
which occurred at Worship Street, one of the Metro- 
politan Police Courts : — 

* Worship Street. 

* Henry Bass, a middle-aged country gentleman, who bore 
most unequivocal marks of having been off his perpendicular, 
was charged before Mr. Knox with drunkenness, but not dis- 
orderly conduct. 

The police having proved the offence, 

Mr. Knox asked : Well, Mr. Bass, are you sober now ? 

Defendant : Thank you, sir, very. 

Constable : The gentleman was very bad ; but I think that 
he is pretty right now. 

Defendant : What you say is very correct. I was bad, but 
1 am. right now — quite right ; in fact, all right. (Oscillating 
shghtly.) 

Mr. Knox : Indeed, I doubt it. 

Defendant : Oh, I assure you I am perfectly compo. The 
fact is, I travelled 100 miles yesterday by train, and after- 
wards took some ale — pale ale ; it had an undue and corrupt 
influence on my system for a time certainly, but what you 
object to now is not proceeding from that. No, it's the roll of 
the carriage in me, not the ale. 

Mr. Knox : I hope not. 

Defendant : Thank you, sir. 

Mr. Knox : But I fear that to part with you at present 
would be subjecting you to robbery ; therefore the constable 
will take 

Defendant (imploringly) : No, no, don't lock me up ; let 
me go home — pray do. 

Mr. Knox : I don't purpose locking you up. I wish to save 
you from being robbed, and to restore you to your friends. 

Defendant : Thank you ; yes, save me from my — no, send 
me to my friends. 



434 LIQUID FOODS. 

Mr. Knox: The constable will see that you have some 
strong tea and 

Defendant (approvingly) : That's it — that's it ; tea is the 
thing — better than ale, ain't it, eh ? 

Mr. Knox : With a little rest afterwards, and then — let me 
see, I presume I may give a despotic order in this instance — 
then, constable, have a cab, and see him safe to the train. 

Defendant (highly pleased) : That's it — that's it — tea, rest, 
and train. That's it — just the thing. 

Mr. Knox : In fact, constable, take care of the gentleman 
till he's safely off. 

Constable : I will, sir. 

Defendant : Yes, he shall. I'll make him. 

Mr. Knox : I dare say he has plenty of money, and will 
defray expenses. 

Defendant : Yes, yes ; I'll defray anything, only don't con- 
fine me — because I want to get home — come along. Saying 
which Mr. Bass moved off, but quickly returning, addressed 
the magistrate in a grandiloquent manner : Allow me to re- 
turn you my thanks, sir, for the sympathy you have shown in 
my most painful position, and to — to — wish you good day ; 
after which this quaint individual left the office as steadily 
as the influence occasioned by the roll of the carriage would 
permit.' 



PART III. 
CxASEOUS FOODS. 



CHAPTEE XXXYII. 

ATMOSFHEBIC AIR. 

We have now arrived at the concluding subject of our 
work, and although some of those which have preceded 
have not been devoid of diiSicultj or controversy, perhaps 
this exceeds them all in one or both of those particulars. 

There is an analogy between air and water as to their 
relative composition, for both may be produced from 
the combination of only two gases, and yet such pro- 
ducts are not found in nature. Both, in like manner, 
have other component parts, which some call impurities, 
but which are so far essential to their constitution that 
they cannot be obtained for the use of man without 
them; and in both the quantity of these additional 
matters, and not their presence or absence, is the pre- 
sent test of pure and impure air and water ; or, as it 
would be much less unsatisfactory^ to say, of normal and 
abnormal air and water. 

We are commonly in the habit of thinking and 
speaking of the air that we breathe, as if it were always 



436 GASEOUS FOODS. 

the same, and could be described by a set phrase, 
whereas it varies with every hour of the day, every 
change of temperature and atmospheric pressure, every 
change of the wind and season, every degree of latitude 
and longitude, and with a hundred other circumstances. 
It is as unexact to imagine a gallon of air or a gallon of 
water to have a fixed composition, as to describe the 
characteristics of men and women, or of nations, by a 
phrase. We can obtain in that manner only a general 
and not a particular idea. 

As a general expression, it may be stated that the at- 
mosphere is mainly composed of two gases, with watery 
vapour, whilst there are other gases, and some solid 
particles ; but for particular ideas we must know the state 
in. which the two principal components are found at a 
given moment, and the quantity of the vapour, under 
exact conditions of elevation, temperature, and baro- 
metric pressure, as well as the quantity of additional 
gaseous and solid matters in a given locality, besides 
various electrical and magnetical conditions. As, how- 
ever, this is not a work on Physics or Chemistry, it 
would be out of our province to attempt to vrrite a 
complete description of the atmosphere, and we must 
limit our observations to such questions as bear upon 
the use of air as a food. 

Atmospheric air, at a temperature of 60°, and with the 
barometer at 30 inches, contains in every 100 parts by 
volume about 21 of oxygen and nearly 89 of nitrogen. 
Those gases are not combined as oxygen and hydrogen 
combine to form water, but are simply mixed together ; 
and although various influences tend to mix them so 
perfectly that the proportion in a given volume at 
different places is nearly the same, it is not absolutely 
so, and one of the gases may, with the greatest ease, be 



ATMOSPHEKIC AIR. 437 

abstracted from the other. It will, therefore, be 
inferred that the proportions will be the least uniform 
where the causes which abstract one of them are the 
most operative, and where such modified air is the least 
mixed by the aid of the winds with air of a more normal 
type. 

But where shall we look for such conditions? In 
towns there is the process of respiration in man and 
animals, by which oxygen is absorbed from the air, and 
carbonic acid, (or carbon and oxygen combined) given to 
the air, and the production of light and heat from every 
kind of fuel, by which oxygen is abstracted and various 
gases, containing or not containing oxygen, added to it, 
besides a thousand operations in manufactures, all of 
which have the same general action. Thus, in towns 
we look for a diminished proportion of oxygen. 

In the country, vegetables have the property of 
absorbing nitrogen, and thus leave the oxygen relatively 
in excess, whilst, at the same time, they eat or drink 
the carbonic acid, and convert both it and nitrogen 
into their own substance. Moreover, the proportion oi 
oxygen is further increased by the decomposition of a 
part of the carbonic acid, under the influence of sun- 
light. Hence, in reference to country localities, so far as 
there is a difference between them and towns in the 
abstraction of oxygen will there be an excess of oxygen ; 
and, moreover, the country removes some of the useless 
or injurious gases which were supplied by towns. 

This description is, however, apt to give a wider 
difference to the characters of the atmosphere in town 
and country than actually exists, for the country is not 
devoid of animals which respire, or of fuel which con- 
Bumes oxygen ; and the spaces between towns in our 
little island are generally so small that it is not easy to 



438 GASEOUS FOODS. 

saj where country begins, and town or village ends. 
Bnt when we have in our view the great expanse of 
the ocean, covering two-thirds of the whole globe, great 
tracts of sandy desert, immense ranges of mountains, 
bearing practically neither animals nor vegetables, and 
certain great moorland tracts, where the proportion of 
animal to vegetable life is a mere vanishing-point, we 
observe that there are great masses of air, where the 
conditions which abstract oxygen and nitrogen are 
insignificant, and to utilise which it is only requisite 
to mix the smaller quantity of changed air with it to 
reduce the change to a minimum. 

Hence, arises the desirability of man seeking locali- 
ties where the change is small, and the absolute necessity 
of those agencies which carry the deteriorated air of 
towns to the country, and the whole to the sea, and of 
bringing back the unchanged air from the great stores 
to supply its place. 

It is clear, that if a given composition of the atmo- 
sphere be essential to the health of man, the necessity 
for a great store of normal air, on the one hand, and 
the replacement of abnormal by normal air, on the 
other, are equally essential. Sea and mountain air must 
be brought to the homes of men, and the air of towns 
carried far out to sea. 

The necessity for oxygen as a food is absolute and 
unintermittent. When the mixed gases of the atmo- 
sphere are received into the lungs, a portion is absorbed 
by the blood, and the oxygen combines with the carbon, 
nitrogen, and hydrogen of food, and in all the vital 
processes, to form compounds, which may be called 
generally carbonates, nitrates, and hydrates. Some of 
the compounds remain for a time in the body, and form 
a part of its substance, but a far greater proportion, after 
producing heat, leave the body as water and carbonic 



ATMOSPHERIC AIR. 439 

acid, or ofher compounds, and are called excreta. The 
body is a great oxidising apparatus, by which it sustains 
its bulk, produces heat, and modifies the composition of 
the atmosphere ; and when it has cast off that which, 
having been used, is no longer useful to it, it not only 
deteriorates the atmosphere, but renders it impure. It 
is not too general an expression to say that every 
thought and act of man, as well as every action 
within his body, is accompanied by the consumption of 
oxygen and deterioration of the surrounding air. 

Nitrogen is believed to play the part of a diluent 
only, and not to sustain or enter into any chemical com- 
binations within the bod}-, and is, in fact, the water in 
the glass of toddy. When it has conveyed the oxygen 
into the blood, and has removed the carbonic acid and 
other gases and vapours which are no longer needed, 
it is itself excluded, and must be discharged from 
further duty until it has detached itself from the new 
materials with which it has become associated. 

But as the normal dilution of the oxygen is desirable, 
lest the action of the latter should be too violent, it is 
necessary that the abstraction of nitrogen, when the air is 
purified, should not be carried too far, and hence, in its 
negative character, it plays an important role, and must 
not be too much undervalued. At the same time there 
is a tolerating power in the body, by which variations, 
in the proportion of the diluent, do not cause immediate 
mischief. Nay, for a time, pure oxygen may be in- 
spired, and although, by so doing, the amount of vital 
action is unduly increased, it is not increased at the 
five-fold rate in which it is supplied. 

Experiments in the inhalation of pure oxygen by 

animals, and even by man, have been very numerous, 

and in me the effect was to increase the vital changes 

by about 10 per cent. When the air was mixed with 

20 



440 GASEOUS FOODS. 

a larger proportion of oxygen than is natural to it, it 
increased the carbonic acid expired in proportion to the 
quantity of oxygen inspired. 

It is also possible to replace nitrogen by another gas, 
and thereby to retain the normal proportion of oxygen, 
but this could be tolerated for only a very short period. 
Thus, in my experiments, when hydrogen and oxygen 
were mixed together in the normal proportion of 
nitrogen and oxygen, the effect was very similar to that 
of common air. 

It is needful to add, that such an experiment is not 
unattended with danger, for if the combined gases were 
ignited, an explosion, followed by fatal consequences, 
would result. 

The important question then arises at what point is 
the oxygen of the air so reduced in quantity as to im- 
pede vital changes, and thereby diminish nutrition. 

This has not been satisfactorily ascertained. There 
can be no doubt that when the proportion by weight 
is reduced to 20*7, air-privation has made much pro- 
gress. 

If we then take as our maximum standard of healthy 
air-feeding that the proportion of oxygen in a 100 cubic 
inches of air shall be 21, we may proceed to consider 
the effect of those agencies which vary the bulk of 
the air, and thereby the quantity of each element, 
viz., temperature and barometric pressure. 

1. As to Temperature, 

It is established that temperature increases the vo- 
lume of a gas in the proportion of -^^-^ of its bulk at 
32° for every degree of temperature. 

The proportion of oxygen and nitrogen at 60° is that 
which is, perhaps, the most commonly respired within 



ATMOSPHERIC AIE. 441 

doors, as the temperature indicated is that which we 
endeavour to maintain there. In summer weather, 
however, the temperature is often 80°, when 100 vo- 
lumes at 60° become 103-84 volumes; or, to put the 
subject in the more practical light, 100 volumes at 80° 
contain an amount of oxygen equal only to 19*194 
per cent., as compared with 21-0 per cent, at 60°. In 
India, and other Eastern climes, the temperature is fre- 
quently 90°, and sometimes 95° in the shade, when 100 
cubic inches of air at 60° would increase to 105*77 and 
106*74 cubic inches, and the proportion of oxygen would 
be lessened, so that it would be 19*81 and 19*59 per 
cent., as compared with 21*0 at 60°. 

Hence it follows, that if the standard quantity be 
necessary at 60°, the body with the higher temperature 
would require less, or vital actions which are required 
must languish, or the amount of air inspired must be 
greater. Experiments have shown that the two former 
propositions are correct, and that, under these circum- 
stances, less heat is required, and less exertion is made, 
so that less oxygen is consumed, whilst there is, at the 
same time, a sense of languor, which implies that the 
body is not so vigorous, or the vital actions performed 
so fully as is desirable. 

This was well shown by an experiment, which has 
been already referred to at page 11, by which it was 
proved that with sudden increase of heat, as well as 
with the slower increase with the seasons of the year, 
the quantity of carbonic acid, or the product, and there- 
fore a measure of vital changes was greatly reduced. 

On the other hand, with the temperature reduced to 
the freezing point, (32° F.,) 100 volumes of air at 60° 
become only 94*5, the oxygen at 32° is increased to an 
amount equal to 22*13 per cent, instead of 21 per cent, 
at 60°. But in North America, and the Arctic and 



442 GASEOUS FOODS. 

Antarctic regions, a temperature of 50° below zero is 
not uncommon in the winter season, and then the 100 
cubic inches at 60° become only 7 6 '8 7 cnbic inches, and 
the oxygen is increased to an amount equal to 25'85 per 
cent., as compared with 21* per cent, at 60°. 

With such a temperature, the contrary expectations 
will be realised : for there is greater necessity for heat, 
greater activity of vital functions and muscular organs, 
and a greater consumption of oxygen. In this extreme, 
also, we find the body tending to defe'^tive vital action, 
as is shown by the torpidity which is experienced 
when the temperature is reduced to so low a degree. 

2. As to Pressure. 

The effect of the pressure of the atmosphere is such, 
that the air expands in a geometrical ratio as the height 
increases in arithmetical ratio, so that 100 volumes of 
air at the sea level become by expansion 200 at an 
elevation of 3 to 4 miles. The height of the column of 
mercury in the barometer may be said to be 30 inches 
at the sea level in this latitude, and the variations 
rarely exceed 1 inch each way, viz., 2 inches from 29 to 
31 inches. 100 cubic inches of air under a pressure of 
30 inches of mercury became 96*6 cubic inches at 31 
inches, and 103-3 cubic inches at 29 inches; so that, as 
a general expression, it may be stated, that there is an 
increase or decrease of 0*333 cubic inch for every 10th 
of a degree. 

With the barometer at 31 inches the amount of 
oxygen in 100 cubic inches will be equal per cent, to 
21*7, as compaied with 21 per cent, at 30 inches, whilst 
it will be 20*3 at 29 inches, with the same basis of 
comparison. 



ATMOSPHERIC AIR. 443 

This action may intensify or oppose the corresponding 
action from temperature, so that with a falling barometer 
and increasing temperature the quantity of oxygen 
diminishes more than when there is increasing tempe- 
rature and increasing pressure, and when this occurs at 
a very hot season, and particularly in hot climates, when 
sudden and violent storms are accompanied or imme- 
diately preceded by a great fall of the barometer wath 
high temperature, and the limits of endurance by the 
body are nearly attained, the conjunction of both 
influences may induce absolute air- starvation. 

There is also a physical action from atmospheric 
pressure by which the fluids of the body are unduly 
retained or rapidly emitted, which has an indirect 
bearing upon the food required. 

Such are the ever-acting causes which influence the 
quantity of oxygen in a given volume of air, and w^hich 
vary its food-power. The quantity is increased as the 
necessity for the consumption of food with which it 
combines increases, as in cold weather and cold climates, 
and vice versa. Tbis proceeds, as already intimated, on 
the assumption that the total amount is not materially 
varied by the quantity of air which is inspired, whether 
by the increased fulness of each inspiration, or by 
increased frequency of respiration ; but this is not 
strictly correct, for there can be no doubt that on the 
sea level there is a parallel action as to quantity of 
air so that in conditions where the air is expanded and 
the proportion of oxygen lessened, the quantity of air 
inspired is lessened also, and vice versa. Hence by both 
means the food-power of oxygen is increased or de- 
creased. 

How far this applies to the state of persons living at 
high elevations is not accurately known. It is said that 



444 GASEOUS FOODS. 

the natives of those altitudes have more capacious 
chests than those on the sea level ; but it has not been 
proved. 

In my experiments at dijfferent elevations in Switzer- 
land up to the summit of the Brevent, at a height 
of about 9,000 feet, the quantity of air inspired at an 
inspiration and by the minute differed but little from 
that on the sea level. As, however, the expansion of 
the air increases with elevation, so that at 3*4 miles 
it is doubled, and thereby the quantity of oxygen in 
100 cubic inches is reduced by one half, it will be readily 
understood that at great elevations the respiration must 
be seriously impeded, and that the languor, stupor, and 
blueness of the skin, which occurred in Mr. Glaisher's 
ascents, to about 23,000 feet, were natural results. 
Whether, however, this obtains simply because the 
usual depth and frequency of inspiration are insufficient 
to supply air, or that the fatigue of deeper and more 
frequent inspirations is so great as to induce exhaus- 
tion and thereby insufficient respiration, does not 
appear. 

We cannot forget, that whilst the lungs usually 
receive about 30 cubic inches of air at each inspiration, 
they are capable of inhaling at one inspiration more 
than 200 cubic inches, but with greater effort and at 
longer intervals. An increase of double the usual 
amount per minute is far less than that which accom- 
panies gentle exertion, such as walking one mile per 
hour, and might be borne without great fatigue. The 
probable explanation is, that the person rising suddenly 
to so great an altitude does not with sufficient readiness 
increase the depth of respiration, and also that the 
smaller per-centage of oxygen in the air admitted into 
the blood is insufficient to carry on the vital changes 



ATMOSPHERIC AIR 445 

with proper rapidity, although the rapidity of the cir- 
culation might be materially accelerated. It is possible 
that at the highest inhabited parts of the Himalayas 
there may be a greater volume of air inspired per 
minute and at each respiration, than at the sea level, 
and that the normal rate of pulsation may be also in- 
creased; but it must not be forgotten that at such 
altitudes the effect of temperature moderates that of 
elevation, for the air is much colder during at least the 
greater part of the day and night, and by so much is 
the proportionate quantity of oxygen increased. 

There is, however, we venture to think, a very gene- 
ral misapprehension as to the degree in which this 
occurs, for it is very probable that the diminution in 
the temperature at high altitudes causes the air to be 
richer in oxygen than at the average temperature on 
the sea level. On this supposition alone, can we ac- 
count for the robust health and great vigour of those 
who occupy high mountain ranges, and who are capable 
of making and sustaining exertion beyond those 
living at the sea level. At the same time, it is clear 
that with great rarefaction of the air by both elevation 
and heat, an increased quantity of air must be inspired 
per minute to maintain the vital processes in their 
integrity. 

We will now proceed to show what is the actual 
quantity of oxygen which exists in the atmosphere as 
stated by different observers and under different con- 
ditions, citing first those which were made on air 
obtained from out-door and good, or tolerably good, 
sources, and for some of which, as for other extracts, 
we are indebted to Dr. Angus Smith's excellent 
work — 



446 



GASEOUS FOODS. 



No. 143. 
Oxygen. 

Gay-Lussac and Humboldt, from many experiments, found 

that it varied from 20-9 to 21*2 per cent. . . . mean 

Gay-Lussac, in the air from mountains and from fens 

De Satissure, in the air from Chambeisy, found variations 
from 20-98 to 21-15 

Berthollet 

Thom. Thomson .... 

Davy 

Vogel, on the Baltic .... 

Hermbstadt, on the Baltic . . . 

Dalton, at Manchester, variation from 20*7 

Eegnault, in the air of Paris 



to 21 



20-918 
20-908 
20-916 
20-909 
20-912 
20-918 



20-949 
average 20-924 



Lyons and around 
Berlin 
Madrid . 

Geneva and Switzerland 
Toulon and Mediterranean 
Atlantic Ocean . 
Ecuador . 

Higher than Mont Blanc 
Bunsen, at Heidelberg .... 

Graham 

Liebig 

Dr. Angus Smith, sea-shore, Scotland 
„ tops of hills, „ 

„ suburbs of Manchester . 

„ St. John's, Antigua 

„ London, open places, summer .... 20-9500 

Erankland, air from Chamounix 20-804 

„ „ top of Mont Blanc 20-963 

. „ „ Grands Mulcts 20-802 

Brunner — Eoulhorn 20-91 

Berger — Jura and other mountains 20-3 to 21-63 

Miller, from balloon ascent, 1,800 feet high .... 20-88 
near the earth .... 20-92 

Dr. Angus Smith — London, N., N.E. and K.W. districts average 20-857 
S. and S.W. „ „ 20883 

„ „ E. and E.G. „ „ 20-86 

„ „ W.C. and W. „ „ 20-92o 

„ „ N.W., S., S.W. and W., Park, &c. . 20-95 

„ Mountains of Scotland, top . . . mean 20-98 



16 



Oxygen 
per cent. 

21-0 
21-49 



21-05 
21-05 
21-0 
21-0 
21-59 
21-59 
20-87 
2096 
20-913 to 20-999 



mean 



20-966 
20-998 
20-982 
20-993 
20-982 
20-965 
20-960 
20-981 
20-840 
. 20-9 
. 20-9 
. 209990 
. 20 9800 
20-9470 and 20-9800 
. 20-9500 



ATMOSPHERIC AIR. 



447 



Dr. Angus Smith — Mountains of Scotland, bottom 
„ Many parts of Scotland 

„ "Worst parts of Perth . 

„ "Workhouse wards, London 

„ „ four best wards 



Oxygen 
per cent. 
. mean 20-94: 
. „ 20-96 
. „ 20-935 
20-88 to 20-93 
day average 20-92 
midnight „ 20-881 
morning „ 20*880 



The following analyses show conditions of the atmo- 
sphere varying from starvation point to a state simply 
unfavourable to health : — 



No 144 

^^"- ■^**' Oxygen 

Dr. Angus Smith — In mines : air from parts very difficult to volume * 

remain in many minutes . . . 17-2000 

„ In mines: the worst specimen yet examined 18-2700 

„ „ when candles go out . . . 18-5000 

„ „ in sumps or pits . . . 20-1400 

„ „ under-shaft of metalliferous 

mines . . . average 20-4240 

„ Court of Queen's Bench, Feb. 2, 1866 . 20-6500 

„ Mines, large cavities in . . average 207700 

„ About backs of houses and closets in 

London 20-7000 

„ Pit of theatre, 11.30 p.m 207400 

„ Gallery „ 10.30 p.m 20-8600 

„ Sitting-room which felt close, but not ex- 
cessively so 20-8900 

„ Tunnel on Metropolitan Railway . . . 20-60 

Frankland — Air in laboratory of Owens College, Nov. and Dec. mean 20-873 

Regnault — Air at Toulon harbour 20-85 

„ „ Algiers . . 20-42 

„ Bengal Bay 20-46 

Leblanc— Close stable, Ecole Militaire 20-39 

„ Salle d'Asyle, with 116 children 20-53 

„ Salk d'Ecole Primaire 20-65 

„ Sleeping-room at the Salpetriere 20*36 

„ Another 20-44 

„ Chemical theatre at the Sorbonne .... 20-28 

„ Bed-room in the new wing ...... 20-74 

Da Luna — Air of Madrid, outside the walls . . average. 2075 

„ ,, inside the walls ... „ 20-74 

„ In hospitals 20-55 



448 GASEOUS FOODS. 

Ozone. 

An interesting question lias attracted attention of late 
years as to the nature and properties of Ozone, to 
wliicli we must refer, for if the commonly accepted 
views be correct that substance has greater food-pro- 
perties than oxygen itself. 

It is not necessary to name those who have been so 
active in our day in their investigations into the sub- 
ject further than to quote the well-known name of 
Schonbein, to whom all subsequent enquirers owe ob- 
ligation. 

We are all familiar with a peculiar odour in the air 
surrounding an electrical machine which has been in 
motion, and when the sparks have passed through the 
air even for a minute. The same is noticed, on a wider 
scale, under certain electrical conditions of the atmo- 
sphere, accompanied by a sense of closeness. The like 
also occurs after the electrolysis of acidulated water or 
after electrical sparks have been passed through oxygen, 
or a stick of phosphorus has been left for half an hour 
in a jar of oxygen. In all these instances the odour is 
the same, and although it cannot be described, its 
identity under different conditions is not doubted by 
those who have perceived it. This is Ozone, which 
is said to ozonise the air, and as it decomposes 
iodide of potassium, and sets free the iodine to act 
upon stirch, many have set themselves to determine its 
existence in time and place, and its relative amount, 
with test-papers. 

The properties of this substance are marked and 
important. Thus it oxidises many moistened metals, 
including mercury, copper and iron, and is decomposed 
to an unlimited extent, by dry silver leaf or silver filings. 
It corrodes organic matters, bleaches vegetable colours, 
oxidises black sulphide of lead into white, makes red 



ATMOSPHEKIC AIR. 449 

ferro-cyanide of potassium out of yellow, renders moist 
sulphide of manganese brown, converts moist silver into 
the peroxide, and decomposes the peroxides of hydrogen 
and barium with evolution of oxygen. It is insoluble 
in water and acid solutions, whilst it is freely absorbed 
by pyrogallic acid and iodide of potassium, is destroyed 
at a temperature at or above 250°, and is naturally 
associated with moisture. 

Its presence in the atmosphere is believed to be very 
general, but its quantity very variable. It is said to be 
produced by the action of the sun on the leaves of 
plants, and on the juices of plants and their products, 
and to exist in all forms of fermentation, putrefaction, 
or decay. 

What, then, is the nature of this new and powerful 
agent? Williamson says it is a tri- oxide of hydrogen, 
but nearly all other investigators affirm it to be oxygen 
in an allotropic state — an oxide of oxygen — which may 
be removed from oxygen without alteration of bulk. 
Schonbein affirmed it to be a negative oxygen, because 
ifc is evolved at the negative pole of a battery, and he 
termed another form which appears at the positive 
pole Antozo7ie, but it has been proved that these are not 
permanent characteristics of gases. 

In reference to its action upon ma.n, it is assumed 
that air is the better food when ozonised, and ozonised 
oils have been introduced in the belief that thej 
are more effective agents, but for this there is not, 
as yet, any sufficient proof. It is not the fresh and in- 
vigorating air which contains ozone in abundance, but 
the oppressive and electrical atmosphere, in which vital 
changes are rather diminished than increased. It is, 
however, said that ozone is more readily absorbed and 
given out by the blood corpuscles than ordinary oxygen, 
and so far facilitates vital action. 



450 



GASEOUS FOODS. 



So far we have referred to abnormal states of the at- 
mosphere leading to air- starvation from one manifest 
cause, viz., the absence of a sufl&cient supply of oxygen, 
and we will now proceed to consider the carbonic acid 
and other components of atmospheric air. 

Caebonio Acid. 

Carbonic acid is found in all known specimens of air, 
and is therefore a normal constituent of the atmosphere ; 
but it may nevertheless be in a quantity which shall in- 
directly tend to starvation or directly induce poisoning. 
The normal quantity is very small, and scarcely exceeds 
three parts in a thousand, but it is believed to be in 
greater proportion at high elevations. 

Dr. Angus Smith found as follows : — 



No. 145. 



On hills in Scotland, from 1,000 to 4,000 feet high 
At the bottom of those hills ... 
On hills of various elevations, from 1,000 to 3,000 feet 
Frankland found on the Grands Mulets 

„ „ Summit of Mont Blanc 

„ „ Chamounix . 

De Saussure found on Lake of Geneva 

„ „ at Chambeisy 

Da Luna found at Madrid .... 
Pettenkofer found in the air in and around Munich 



0332 to 



Carbonic Acid 
Volume 
j>er cent. 
. -0332 



•0341 

•0337 

•Oil 

•061 

•063 

•0439 

•0460 

•0501 

•05 



The quantity of this gas is sometimes very greatly 
increased. Thus, according to Angus Smith : — 

No. 146. 

In Manchester streets '0403 

„ „ during fog '0679 

About middens '0774 

In workshops, down to '3000 

In theatres, worst part of '3200 

In mines, average of 339 analyses '7850 

extreme amount found in worst 2*5000 



ATMOSPHEEIC AIR. 



451 



The presence of carbonic acid is very readily deter- 
mined by staking tlie air with lime water or baryta 
water, when the solution becomes cloudy, and the quan- 
tity may also be readily ascertained by weighing, but a 
yet more simple plan has been arranged by Dr. Angus 
Smith, after Pettenkofer, on the volumetric system. 

Thus he finds that by taking a fixed quantity of lime 
water and varying the capacity of the bottle in which 
it is placed, and therefore the quantity of air used, he • 
can very closely determine the proportion of carbonic 
acid in the contained air. The bottle used by him is of 
sufficient size at the top to admit the hand for the pur- 
pose of cleansing, and he draws air through the bottle 
with a flexible bellows pump until the contained air 
represents that which is to be analysed. Taking half 
an ounce of lime water as the standard quantity, he 
has constructed the following table : — 



No. 147. 

Carbonic Acid a- „ „. u^**!- 

percent. ^ ^ ^ Size of bottle 

•03 without precipitate iu 20 '6 3 oz. aro 



•04 
•05 
•06 
•07 
•08 
•09 
•10 
•15 
•20 
•25 
•30 
•50 
1-00 



15-60 
12-58 
10-57 
9-13 
8-05 
7^21 
6-54 
4-53 
3-52 
2-92 
2-51 
1-71 
1-10 



irdupois 



The air must be well shaken with the water, and no 
precipitate will occur unless the quantity of carbonic 
acid be greater than that which is placed opposite to 
the capacity of the bottle. 



4r^2 GASEOUS FOODS. 

The question now occurs : Does the presence of car- 
bonic acid gas add to or take from the food- qualities of 
air? It is quite clear that its presence in large quan- 
tity cannot be beneficial, for it does not support animal 
vital action, and if we take the least important view of 
its action it must be indirectly hurtful, for in propor- 
tion as it is present, so will free oxygen be absent, and 
we have seen that any gas which diminishes the quan- 
.tity of oxygen by 0*1 per cent, interferes with the vital 
processes, and is injurious to health. But there is little 
doubt that carbonic acid cannot be used as a mere 
diluent and be substituted for nitrogen in the air, or 
that respiration can be maintained with 79 per cent, of 
carbonic acid and 21 per cent, of oxygen, and therefore 
that its action is not negative simply, but according to 
the amount of it poisonous. There is no known vital 
process in animals by which carbonic acid becomes 
fixed in the body after the manner of vegetables, or 
that if introduced it undergoes any transformation 
during which it could produce heat or otherwise act as 
a food. It is the product of vital changes, and is cast 
out of the body at least as useless if not positively in- 
jurious. 

The late Sir James Simpson of Edinburgh adminis- 
tered it as a medicine by allowing a patient to inhale it 
from a flask in which it was produced, but great care 
was taken that an almost unlimited admixture of atmo- 
spheric air should take place during inspiration. 

Solid Particles. 

It is most usual to find solid particles or dust in the 
air when a considerable quantity is washed in clean 
distilled water, and this is made strikingly evident by 
looking at a sunbeam passing through the air of a 
darkened room. This necessarily varies much with the 



AT.MOSrHERIC AIK. "^^^^ 

locality, and will be greater where there is smoke from 
mineral fuel, manufactories, dusty roads, or large tracts 
of sandmoved by strong winds, and is sometimes so great 
as to excite coughing. In the same way the pollen of 
plants and other minute particles of matter travel along 
the atmosphere and cause hay fever. Minute living 
organisms, and even animalcules, are also found m the 
air, and it is very probable that this kind of impurity is 
a far more frequent cause of Malaise, and even of dis- 
ease, than is at present known, but there is no evidence 
to show that such additions to the atmosphere act as foods. 
An interesting discussion occurred some time ago on 
Professor Tyndall's assertion that not only particles of 
dust, but organic germs may be arrested by passing the 
air through cotton-wool, so that an apparatus may 
readily be prepared to be worn over the mouth by those 
who are specially exposed to either, or in conducting 
various trades, or in presence of infection. 

NiTEOGENOUS COMPOUNDS. 

There is another class of substances to which reference 
must be made, although in their nature they are rather 
poisons than foods, viz., the organic matters which are 
emitted by the lungs and skin of animals, and from 
animal and vegetable decomposition. The sense of 
fouhiess in the atmosphere which is due to this cause 
is well known, and the degree increases with the number 
of persons and the duration of their stay in an enclosed 
space, but the exact estimate of its quantity and import- 
ance has not been made. It is, however, quite clear 
that the deterioration of the air is not even m great part 
due to this emanation, but to the consumption of oxygen 
when the quantity of air is limited. Also that the foul- 
ness of the smell is not sufficient evidence of the degree 
of deterioration of the air, for there are certain emana- 



i54 GASEOUS FOODS, 

tions from the body in tlie bed-room resulting from the 
absence of due ablution which are very penetrating 
and cffensive, whilst the atmosphere may not be other- 
wise unduly deteriorated. 

There are, however, the same grounds for believing 
that a portion of this matter in the air is as injurious 
to health as the organic nitrogenous matters in water, 
and that it acts as a ferment by which diseases of the 
nature of fever are engendered. 

In reference to the presence of organisms, Dr. Angus 
Smith vrrites : — ' I mentioned some time ago that I had 
got a quantity of organic matter from the windows of 
a crowded room, and I have since frequently repeated 
the experiment. This matter condenses on the glass 
and walls in cold weather, and may be taken up by 
means of a pipette. If allowed to stand some time it 
forms a thick, apparently glutinous mass ; but when this 
is examined by a microscope it is seen to be a clearly 
marked confervoid growth.' 

The same observer has done more than any other 
chemist to enable us to ascertain the presence of organic 
matter quantitatively by the use of a graduated solution 
of permanganate of potash which is decolourised by 
nitrogenous matter, and although it does not profess to 
indicate absolute quantities, its comparative indications 
are very valuable. He has recently improved the 
method, and has given the following- results of experi- 
ments in his work (p. 417) : — 

No. 148. 





Oxygen required 
iDstantly 


Oxygen required 

in a few miuuteg 

with acid 


York place Jan. 21 . 


Grains per million 
cu. ft. of air 
. 70-23 


Grains per million 

cu. ft. of air 

735-62 


Front of laboratorj „ 24 . 


. 277-51 


479-31 


„ 27 . 


. 227-05 


484-37 


Yard behind / ^"^ f^ ; 


. 224-36 
. 655-92 


527-58 
908-20 



ATMOSPHEEIC AIE. 



455 



Ammonia is present in the air almost nniversall}^, 
and particularly where there are decomposing animal 
and vegetable matters, as manure. It is recognised in 
two forms, viz., as ammonia, and as organic or albu- 
menoid ammonia, in precisely the same manner as in 
water. The process of Nessler for free ammonia and 
that of Wanklyn, as already described in the chapter on 
water for albumenoid ammonia, are required for the 
examination of air. 

The following results of experiments are extracted 
from the tables published by Dr. Angus Smith : — 

No. 149. 

Manchester, 







Ammonia free 
or with acids 


Organic or 

Albumenoid 

Ammonia 






Grains per 


Grains per 






million cu. ft. 


million cu. ft 






of air 


of air 


Laboratory and yard, -l^-y 
and street adjoining/ ""*"* ^ "• 


average 53-582 


116-544 


Bed-room 


» 


44-305 


104-118 


Midden 


»» 


146-911 


181-524 


London. 








Chelsea Nov. 4 . . . 


» 


19-936 


48-180 


Hyde Park „ 5 . 


»» 


12-655 


37-965 


Wobiirn-sqnare and "1 . . 
off Eegent-street J »» ^^ • 


»> 


16-614 


58-148 . 



Ishnffton, Hoxton, Dalstoni -^y o 
J XT 1 y -Nov. 8 

and Hackney . . J 

Bethnal Green and Stepney „ 9 

London Bridge » 10 

Embankment of Parliament houses Nov. 1 3 

Back street near Lambeth workhouse Nov. 10 

Near Vauxhall bridge Nov. 6 . 

Average of many places in and about London 



26-701 

41-534 
27-419 
21-119 
88-700 
16-614 
26-780 



65-286 

83-086 
61-166 
71-805 

105-595 
66-455 
65-947 

163-167 



Underground railway, Nov. , . . average 31-561 

Glasgow, Feb. and Mar „ 34*169 

Shore— Muellan, Frith of Clyde, Mar. . „ 22-845 

There are also various mineral acids which are ob- 
tained by washing air in pure distilled water, the 
amount of which is commonly small, but it varies 



456 



GASEOUS FOODS. 



extremely, as shown by Angus Smith's Eeports. The 
following are a few examples in absolute quantities : — 

No. 150. 
Ma7ichester. 





Hydrochloric 


Acid 


Sulphuric Acid 
Anhj'drous 




Grains in 


1 


Grains in 1 




million cu. 


ft. 


million cu. ft. 




of air 




of ail- 


Grosvenor-square, March 


. 49-43 




682-80 


Oct. 7 


. 155-50 




75- 


Greenhay's-fields „ 12 


. 79-5 




978-2 


St. Helen's, open space, Oct. 15 


. 170-3 




1236-3 


Hill near Poole's Cavern, "1 ^ f oq 
south of Buxton . /^^^- -^"^ • 


. 31-78 




971-0 


The cliffs near Blackpool, Dec. 1 . 
Til A ■fnlln-wino* p;nmr»n.va.f,i\ 


. 37-36 
TO t^ihlpf? hv 


til p. s 


259-45 
a.mp. ohsftrvPT 



are full of interest : — 

No. 151. 

Blackpool, taken as 100. 



Blackpool 

Didsbury 

Buxton 


Total 
acid 
100 
282 
327 


Hydrochloric 
Acid 
100 

277 
415 


Sulphm-ic Acid 

Anhydrons 

100 

282 

315 


London • 


348 


320 


352 


St. Helen's .... 


. 488 


516 


484 


Manchester .... 


. 498 


396 


513 


Metropolitan Underground Eailway 


. 1483 


974 


1554 


No 


152. 






Irewellan, on the C 


Jlyde, taJcen as 100. 




Irewellan 


Total 
Ammonia 
. 100 


Ammonia 
100 


Albumenous 

Ammonia 

100 


London 


. 112 


117 


109 


A bed-room .... 


. 179 


194 


173 


Glasgow 


. 202 


150 


221 


Inside and outside of office . 


. 205 


235 


193 


Metropolitan Underground Eailway 
A midden 


. 234 
. 395 


138 
643 


271 
301 



Watery Yapour. 
Besides the foregoing, there is one other compound of 
the atmosphere which is never absent in n-ature, but the 



ATMOSPHERIC AIR. 457 

quantity varies with all the conditions which influence 
the amount of oxygen, viz., watery vapour. It does not 
add to the volume of the air, but may usually be added 
to, and may always be removed from, the air by arti- 
ficial means. 

There is a capacity in air to receive and retain 
moisture which is inherent to its nature, but it has 
limits, so that air which under given circumstances 
cannot receive a further increment of moisture is said 
to be saturated, and the point of saturation is indicated 
by the deposition of the vapour as water. This power 
is directly associated with the temperature of the air, 
in such a manner that the higher the temperature the 
greater is the capacity of the air to receive and retain 
vapour. Air at a given temperature which is not satu- 
rated becomes so on lowering the temperature to 
a given point. This is seen familiarly in a glass holding 
water at the ordinary temperature on a warm day by 
its remaining clear on the outside, but on the intro- 
duction of ice into the water, by which the temperature 
of the water and surrounding air is lessened, there 
comes a deposition of moisture upon the outside, 
because the surrounding air at the lower temperature is 
saturated with vapour. 

Hence it follows that while warm air may not show 
any signs of the presence of vapour, it may have a much 
greater amount than air at a lower temperature which 
is saturated. The point of saturation at different tem- 
peratures may therefore be an indication of the quantity 
of water which the air then contams, and thus become 
a ready mode of admeasurement. 

Taking this as a guide, tables have been constructed 
which show the weight of water in a cubic feet of air 
at the dew-point, a point of saturation of which the 
following is one. 



458 



GASEOUS FOODS. 



No. 153. 
Weight in grains of a cubic foot of watery vapour 
under a uniform pressure of 30 inches of mercury, for 
every degree of temperature from the freezing point to 
100° F. The temperature is the dew-point, and the 
weight of vapour is the weight which can be sustained 
at that temperature without being visible — that is to 
say, without being deposited. 



Temperature, 


"Weight in grains of a 


Temperature, 


Weight in grains of a 


Fahrenheit. 


cubic foot of vapour. 


Fahrenheit. 


cubic foot of vapour. 


o 


grs. 


o 


grs. 


32 


213 


67 


7-27 


33 


2-21 


68 


7-51 


34 


2-30 


69 


7-76 


35 


2-48 


70 


8-01 


36 


2-48 


71 


8-27 


37 


2-57 


72 


8-54 


38 


2-66 


73 


8-82 


39 


2-76 


74 


9-10 


40 


2-86 


75 


9-39 


41 


2-97 


76 


9-69 


42 


3-08 


77 


9-99 


43 


3-20 


78 


10-31 


44 


3-32 


79 


10-64 


45 


3-44 


80 


10-98 


46 


3-56 


81 


11-32 


47 


3-69 


82 


11-67 


48 


3-82 


83 


12-03 


49 


3-96 


84 


12-40 


50 


4-10 


85 


12-78 


51 


4-24 


86 


1317 


52 


4-39 


87 


13-57 


53 


4-55 


88 


13-98 


54 


4-71 


89 


14-41 


55 


4-87 


90 


14-85 


56 


5-04 


91 


15-29 


57 


5-21 


92 


15-74 


58 


5-39 


93 


16-21 


59 


5-58 


94 


16-69 


60 


5-77 


95 


17-18 


61 


5-97 


96 


17-68 


62 


617 


97 


18-20 


63 


6-38 


98 


18-73 


64 


6-59 


99 


19-28 


65 


6-81 


100 


19-84 


66 


704 







ATMOSPHERIC AIR. 459 

The importance of this in its bearing upon our 
subject, is the effect which it has on the removal of 
water from the body, whether that water be produced 
by chemical action within the bod}^, or has been intro- 
duced as a food. 

It is evident that if the temperature of the inspired 
air be that of the body, and when inspired the air is 
saturated with moisture, it cannot receive any water 
from the body; but if it be saturated at a lower tempera- 
ture, it will be capable of absorbing more when inspired 
and raised to the temperature of the body, and may then 
remove some superfluous water. The degree of dryness 
of the air is manifestly of the utmost importance, 
for if the air be very dry it will remove an undue 
amount of water, and locally or generally induce water- 
starvation, whilst if it be too moist it cannot perform 
one of its most necessary functions, viz., the removal of 
water. The same actions take place upon the skin as 
in the lungs, for in proportion as the air is dry per- 
spiration is promoted, and the perspired fluid removed, 
whilst when it is saturated at the temperature of the 
body it almost arrests that action. In both alike it 
influences the necessity for and use of food, whilst the 
vapour which is introduced into the lungs, may, in a 
certain sense, be regarded as food. 



CHAPTER XXXYin. 

VENTILATION. 



It has become evident in the course of the preceding 
chapter that the atmosphere surrounding a living man 
must be so deteriorated and vitiated, that it is ren- 
dered less fitted for food, and more like a poison ; but 



460 GASEOUS FOODS. 

tlie degree depends not only on the man, but upon the 
removal of any or all of the expired air from his imme- 
diate vicinity. Hence, it will be greater in an enclosed 
than in an open space, and without than with much 
wind. It ordinarily is at a minimum in an open space, 
either because the man moves from the expired air, or 
the expired air is removed from him ; but when the air 
is stagnant or without perceptible motion, tlie removal 
of the expired air is so slow as to be almost prevented 
in a limited time ; a sense of oppression occurs, and 
air-privation is at hand. That which is the rare ex- 
ception in an open space is the rule in an enclosed one, 
unless means are taken to bring the conditions of the 
latter nearer to those of the former. Air-privation in 
an open space may seem a paradox, yet it is neverthe- 
less possible, and occurs with crowds of people closely 
packed together, or with a few, under certain atmo- 
spheric conditions ; but in an enclosed space it is an 
occurrence of every night, if not of every day. 

The conditions of the atmosphere to which we now 
refer are as follows : — 

1. Deterioration of the air by the consumption of a 
portion of its oxygen. 

2. Vitiation of the air by the addition of ammoniacal 
and other nitrogenous products. 

3. A nearer approach to saturation of the air by 
aqueous vapour. 

4. Increased heat of the air. 

It is true that all this will occur with one single 
expiration in temperate climates ; but in hot climates 
the heat of the atmosphere at tlie moment may be 
greater than that of the body, and cannot therefore be 
increased by respiration. The degree of vitiation then 
produced would be inappreciable, and the moment when 
the degree is worthy of notice must depend upon the 
conditions as to enclosure and space and number of 



^'ENTILATION. 461 

persons. There will, however, be a point at which mea- 
sures should be taken to remedy the evil, as well as a 
period antecedent in which the evil is unimportant ; and 
hence some agreement should be arri^^ed at as to the 
state of the atmosphere which marks the proper period 
of sanitary action. Let us now endeavour to show the 
conditions of the atmosphere at that moment. 

1. As to Deterioration. — The normal amount of oxygen 
has already been stated to be 21 per cent, by volume, 
and as that applies to the best sources, it may be ad- 
mitted as the maximum requirement ; but there are a 
thousand places where the proportion actually consumed 
by multitudes of men living in open spaces is much 
less. Thus at Manchester, Dalton found the mean to 
be 20*87, and the ordinary minimum 20*7 per cent. In 
Paris, according to Eegnault, the mean is 20*96, and 
the ordinary minimum 20*913 per cent. In Berlin the 
ordinary minimum is 20*908, and even at Heidelberg it 
is 20*924 per cent. Dr. Angus Smith found in the 
ordinary atmosphere around and within London that 
the average was so low as 20*857 to 20*95 per cent, in 
different districts. 

There can, therefore, be no question that a pro- 
portion of 21 per cent, is high enough. But Eegnault 
found the oxygen at Toulon harbour to be only 20*85, 
at Bengal Bay 20*46, and at Algiers 20*42 per cent, 
under the ordinary conditions of the atmosphere. 
Even in the largest and j^nrest sources, viz., the sea and 
mountain air, the proportion is below the standard 
of 21 per cent. ; so that, according to Frankland, 
it was only 20*802 a-t the Grands Mulets, and 20*804 
per cent, at Ohamounix, which is situated at an 
elevation of upwards of 4,000 feet. Nay, Berger states 
that on the Jura and other mountains it was sometimes 
so low as 20*3 per cent. Miller found in air at more 
than three miles above the level of the sea, a pro- 



462 GASEOUS FOODS. 

portion of only 20*88 ; and on the Atlantic Ocean 
Regnanlt found only 20*918 per cent. With such vari- 
ations, where shall we draw the line, and say that this 
degree is healthful, and that is not ? 

Then let us cite another fact. Those living in the 
same locality are subject to the varying pressure of the 
atmosphere, so that the weight of oxygen in any given 
volume of air will increase as the barometer rises and 
decrease as it falls. 

In the application of these facts it is to be first allowed 
that we cannot draw the line above the proportion ex- 
isting in any locality in question — at any rate, so far as 
refers to present supply, for no better could be obtained ; 
secondly, that the usual allowances which may be due 
to atmospheric causes in the same place must be ad- 
mitted ; and thirdly, that when we attempt to indicate 
a point below, we must bear in mind the lower pro- 
portion in which such great masses of people in whole 
towns or counties live. It is clear, therefore, that in 
London we cannot take 21 per cent, as the standard, 
and certainly not more than 20*95, whilst it is probable 
that 20*9 would be nearer the mark. From this deduct 
a proportion for varying pressure and temperature, and 
bear in mind that the average in the N., N.E., and N.W. 
districts is 20*857, and we infer that the standard 
may be reduced to 20*8 per cent, in the free open air. 
Let us then fix upon 20*8 per cent, as the minimum of 
pure London air, and then arises the question. Is every 
lower proportion injurious to health? If the answer 
rested upon the quantity of oxygen alone, we should 
answer, No ; for the power of adaptation which exists 
in the body could, by a very slight increase in the re- 
spiration and circulation, prevent evil results ; but what- 
ever may be deficient in oxygen is supplied, not by 
nitrogen, which is powerless, but by other gases which 



VENTILATION. 463 

may be injurious. Still there is manifestly a space 
below the line of liealth in which air-privation does not 
occur injuriously, and it is mere theoretical refinement 
to insist that every degree below the normal standard 
must inflict an injury upon health. 

With the facts now known, we think it should be the 
aim of all persons to breathe air which contains the 
highest proportion of oxygen in their several localities, 
and not to allow it to fall below 20*8 in the enclosed 
spaces in which they may live, and it is desirable 
that it should not fall below 20-9. Yet Angus Smith 
found it below 20*8 in the Court of Queen's Bench and 
in many other parts of London, whilst in and about 
Madrid it was 20*74; and Leblanc found it in certain 
schools and bed-rooms in hospitals in Paris 20*74, 20-65, 
20-53, 20*44, 20*39, and even 20*36 per cent. As 
in the last-mentioned facts the proportion was far below 
the average of the external air in Paris, it showed an 
unnecessary privation of air ; but it also shows that the 
dividing line between suJBficiency and insufficiency of air 
is a tolerably broad one. 

As to Vitiated Air. — The normal amount of carbonic 
acjd in the open air varies from -Oil to *07 per cent., 
and it is by common consent represented at from -03 to 
•04 per cent. Yet can we fix upon that as a hard 
and fast dividing line, when in Manchester it has been 
proved to be '0679 in a fog, and at Munich and 
Chamounix *05 and '063 per cent, ordinarily ? Angus 
Smith found it to be nearly ten times the normal 
standard, viz., *3 and *32 per cent., in various work- 
shops and in the worst part of theatres occupied by 
men and women, so that we may fairly extend our range 
to some point between '06 and '3 per cent. This is a 
very long range ; and if we adopt the mean, it would 
still be very much above the standard of '04 per dent. 
21 



464 GASEOUS FOODS. 

Some writers have affirmed very authoritatively that 
there is no safety, if the proportion be greater than 
•06 per cent., as though it had been proved by experi- 
ment that a larger quantity V70uld necessarily lead to 
disease, w^hilst others, with an equally firm conviction, 
have fixed upon '08 as the line which must not be 
passed, lest dire consequences ensue ; but whilst it is 
most desirable that the highest degree of purity of air 
should be sought, and the highest practicable standard 
adopted, these quantities are not based upon actual 
23roof of their necessity, neither do they sufficiently 
recognise the variations which occur in the free atmo- 
sphere. 

There is no reason to fear evil results from air which, 
otherwise proper, supplies 20*9 per cent, of oxygen, and 
0*1 per cent, of carbonic acid, and facts show that it 
would be within the actual limits of health if the pro- 
portion of the latter were '16, in places where the per- 
sons respiring it were not entirely restricted to it at any 
time, or for more than the usual intervals between 
meals. 

When, however, carbonic acid is produced by the 
respiration of animals it is attended by the nitrogenous 
principles already mentioned, and they are usually pro- 
portionate to each other. Hence, a material increase 
in the carbonic acid means also increase in the most 
injurious elements of vitiated air, as well as decrease 
in the vital component of air. Such air has a close, if 
not foul odour, which is peculiar to over-crowded places ; 
but which nevertheless is variable as other elements 
are present or absent, such as the smell from unwashed 
skins and feet, and the strong odours which many per- 
sons emit. The smell therefore should not necessarily 
be taken as the measure of the active substances 
which we are now considering ; but it has nevertheless 



VENTILATION. 465 

much importance. Diminution in the quantity of 
oxygen, and even the addition of carbonic acid are un- 
attended with any odour, and cannot be detected by the 
sense of smell. It is, therefore, possible that they may 
occur without man being aware of it, as in the snow 
huts of the Polar regions ; but when produced by com- 
bustion there is usually some smell, as that of sulphur, 
and when by respiration the odour referred to, which 
shows, £it least, that the vitiated air has not been suffi- 
ciently renewed, and that the two former conditions 
probably exist. This is, therefore, the tell-tale or indi- 
cator of air-privation, and referring only to the state of 
the atmosphere which is due to respiration, we may be 
assured, on the other hand, that if this smell be absent 
there is not a degree of deterioration which need cause 
alarm. The sense of the presence of these substances 
is much more oppressive in hot than iii cold weather, 
both because they are less potential in the latter, and 
the necessity for maintaining warmth overrides other 
considerations. 

There is no fixed limit as to the quantity of these 
substances which may be permitted to remain, since it 
is almost too minute to be determined by analysis ; but 
the use of the permanganate of potash test is a general 
guide, if the sense of smell be not already sufficient for 
that purpose. 

3. As to the Yaioour. — The air which is emitted by the 
lungs is saturated with vapour, and being at a high 
temperature gives out a portion to the neighbouring 
and cooler air. Hence, the tendency of the air in an 
enclosed space is towards saturation, and thereby to 
diminish greatly the value of the air for the use of 
man. 

It may be affirmed that the air in an enclosed space 
should not be nearer saturation than the free surroundinir 



M6 GASEOUS FOODS. 

air outside, and since the air within is for the most part 
of higher temperature than that without it is relatively 
drier. It may therefore be drier than the outside air, 
and yet too nearly approach saturation. 

This, however, varies much with the period of the 
year, and the temperature of the house. When the 
temperature of air is high, say 80°, the higher tempe- 
rature of the body allows only a very slight increase in 
the absorbing power of the inspired air, therefore very 
little moisture can escape with it ; but when it is at 40°, 
if it be then saturated, the increased temperature 
acquired in the lungs gives it a great absorbing power. 

4. As to the Heat. — This is a very varying quantity 
according to the number of persons respiring, the space 
occupied, the closeness of the enclosure, and the external 
temperature. Experience has shown that a temperature 
of from 56° to 65°, is the most agreeable and healthful, 
and we therefore strive to maintain it in our houses ; 
but the difficulty of doing so varies with the season, 
and the duration of our exposure to it. Moreover, 
the sensation with the same degree of temperature 
is very different at different seasons and by persons of 
different ages. The young and old need warmth, as do 
also the sick and those who are unable to take much 
exercise, and the poor and ill fed, and to them warmth 
is life — almost more necessary than pure air. As to 
season, the sensation of the air at 66° in winter is that 
of warmth, and equal to that of 65° to 70° in summer. 
The greatest sensation of cold which we ever experienced 
was in the morning, at 5 o'clock, with the thermometer 
at 56°, in Texas, where we were accustomed to ride under 
a sun-heat of 150° during the day. 

It is quite clear, that whilst the well-known regulation 
is the most correct and general expression, it is of very 
indefinite character in its effects. 



VENTILATION. 467 

Such is an outline of the effects of respired air 
on the atmosphere, and in seeking remedies we must 
not attempt too much refinement, or be guided bj any 
fanc}^ of the fitness of things; but take a sober and 
practical view, and recognise the fact that millions of 
men live under conditions which are theoretically 
wrong, and yet continue to live, and to live as well and 
as long as others more favourably placed. On the 
other hand, it is no evidence of wisdom to be content 
with things as they are, if there be means of amend- 
ment; but it is wise, in seeking as high a standard 
as can be practically attained, to proceed cautiously 
and slowly, so that the prejudices of men may not be 
needlessly assailed. It may be doubted whether this 
subject has not more to fear from its friends than 
its foes, by placing assumptions in place of proof, re- 
garding only one as23ect of the question, ignoring the 
actual experience of men, and exciting hostility by 
dogmatism based chiefly on theory. 

The remedies cannot be solely artificial, for it would 
be impossible for man to purify or restore the air which 
he has contaminated. As in the case of water, the 
subject is too huge for any action short of that of 
nature, and we must turn to natural agencies to effect 
our purpose. The essential action is the removal of 
the used air, and as it leaves, its place will necessarily 
be supplied by the air immediately surrounding. Hence 
the problem of ventilation is to remove the used air and 
supply new air with the least inconvenience to those 
who require it. 

It is very remarkable that scarcely any house which 
was built ten years ago (and indeed we may a23ply the 
observation to our own day) has any special means for 
ventilation, and persons sit in rooms for hours and pass 
whole nights in bed-rooms with a minimum change of 



468 GASEOUS FOODS. 

air. There are doors for entrance and exit, windows 
for liglit, and cliimney-flues for smoke, all of which may 
be ventilators; but the doors and windows may be 
shut, as in winter, and the chimney-flue closed, as in 
summer, and then the inhabitant of the room is in a 
closed box. To show yet more strongly the absurdity 
of the present state of things, the bed-room door and 
window will probably be open during the day, when no 
one occupies the room, but at night they will be care- 
fully shut and fastened, the register of the stove will 
be lowered, and the curtains of the bed will be extended 
as if it were intended to suffocate the incomer rather 
than to afford him healthful and refreshing food during 
eight hours of sleep. 

Even in public buildings, as in some of our great . 
hospitals, the same defect exists, and it was seriously 
charged by a renowned surgeon against workhouses, 
that they must be ill ventilated because the nurses were 
not sufficiently intelligent to have the opening and 
closing of the windows confided to them. It is scarcely 
credible that the ventilation of a sick ward should in 
his opinion be dependent upon the opening and closing 
of windows. 

It must, howf^ver, be allowed that in the erection of 
good houses and large public buildings at this moment, 
special means of ventilation are adopted, and during the 
next generation it may be nearly as healthful to sit 
in a handsome room as in the open air ; but whether 
it will generally descend so low in the social scale as 
the workman's room remains to be seen. Up to this 
period the better the house has been built the more 
nearly it has represented a series of closed boxes, and 
the heavier the drapery of the bed-room the less re- 
freshed AY as the sleeper, and the only improvement 



VENTILATION. 469 

wliicli lias in any way modified this result has been the 
greater capacity of the rooms. 

It will not be expected that we shall here do more 
than sketch an outline of the more ready modes of 
obtaining fresh air, as this is not a work on Yentilation, 
and although it is a subject with which we have long 
been connected, we must be content to limit ourselves 
to a few directions. 

The golden rule in reference to this, as to many other 
evils, is to prevent rather than to remedy. Let there be 
means of ventilation in every inhabited room, and such 
.as shall x^revent the contamination of the air beyond 
the limit already agreed upon. This implies the inces- 
sant removal of the used air from the place immediately 
occupied by the consumer, and from the surrounding 
space, until we arrive at the outer air. With stagnant 
air and an immovable person, this is impossible, for the 
only mode by which it can then be removed is that of 
diffusion of gases — a process of immense importance, 
but slow in operation. Hence movement of the air is 
essential, whether by mechanical means, as fans or 
punkahs, or by the influence of heat, or by the move- 
ment of the external air. 

Mechanical means of the kind named are too cumbrous 
for general use, and are limited in the space within 
which they act, and moreover they so disturb the mass 
of air that they are apt to mix both the good and the 
bad air together, and are not perfect ventilators. When 
a system is devised by the aid of proper channels and 
pumps, it is possible to direct the current of the air at 
pleasure, whether from or toward the consumer, and 
such a system well devised may be very efficacious, pro- 
vided all other inlets and outlets of air be closed, as, for 
example, in prison cells and in bed-rooms, but as the 



470 GASEOUS FOODS. 

doors of rooms occupied bj day are frequently opened, 
tlie system is not of general application. The best 
example with which we are acquainted is the Lunatic 
Asylum at Michelover, near Derby, which was erected 
by Mr. Dewsbury, and is a model of efficiency. 

The influence of temperature is unceasing, for when- 
ever there is a difference between two bodies of air the 
hotter will ascend and the cooler descend or fill up the 
void laterally. The only question is the degree of in- 
fluence, for it may be so small as to be practically in- 
operative, or so great as to excite a hurricane. As to 
natural heat, we may observe that it is a rare occurrence 
for the air within a room to be of the same temperature 
as that without, and whichever may be the hotter will 
cause movement in the other. Hence there is a con- 
stant tendency to an exchange of air within and without 
a room in all directions where there are communica- 
tions between them. So also within a room, if there 
be an artificial source of heat it will cause the ascent of 
the air in its neighbourhood, and if there be no exit the 
warmer air will accumulate above, but if there be an 
exit a current will be established which will draw into 
it portions of cooler air adjoining ; but such a current 
may not have much lateral extension. 

When a system of channels has been devised, such as 
that referred to in the action of pumps, a fire may be 
the most convenient mode of setting a current in motion 
and of maintaining it. Such is the system adopted in 
the Houses of Parliament, and there the fire is placed 
in an air chamber much above the level of the two houses, 
towards which all the existing channels converge, and 
from which one common exit is made. 

But with this admitted influence of heat, there are 
many who overlook the fact that one or two occupants 
of a room cannot generate heat sufficient to cause the 



VENTILATION. 471 

removal of the vitiated air by that means alone, and in 
fact that such an action is at the most only subsidiary 
to others. One person may vitiate the nir of a room, 
whilst the heat generated by ten would not suffice to 
cause its removal. 

The movement of the external air is the chief agent 
in a system of natural ventilation whether in open 
spaces or closed rooms, and without it all other means 
would be ineffectual. It is said that man cannot live 
on the wind ; he certainly cannot live without the winds. 

The admission within any space of the air as moved 
by the winds, is therefore the essence of air-purification 
or air-renewal, and as the winds blow from every quarter 
in turn, and not from one at all times, there must be 
means of admission in more than one direction. 

Such, then, are the objects and agencies, and the 
whole art of ventilation consists in so applying the latter 
that their action shall be unintermittent, gentle, effec- 
tual. The mechanical system aims to act alone, and 
the tendency of its defects is to create currents which 
may be felt, and to rarefy the air. The natural system 
embraces the two latter agencies, and makes use of 
mechanical means for controlling and directing them. 
The greatest difficulty to be overcome is not the removal 
of vitiated air or the admission of bad air, but to do so 
without so lowering the temperature as to induce a 
sensation of cold, or if artificial heat alone be used, to 
prevent great variations of temperature in the same 
room and an undue dryness of the air. 

"We will now add a few general directions : — 

1. Inhabited rooms should, if possible, have external 
walls on two sides, so that air may be admitted through 
both. 

2. The openings should be small and many, rather 
than few and large, defended by perforated zinc, and 



472 GASEOUS FOODS. 

placed as distant as possible from those who inhabit the 
room. Hence the cornice above and the skirting below 
are convenient positions, but rooms of less than ten feet 
in height are not easily ventilated without draughts. 
The connection between the inside and the outside of 
the room should not be direct, but at an angle, so that 
a direct current may not be produced. 

3. Such ventilators as direct the current to the ceiling 
are useful in a degree, but the cold air thus admitted 
will descend before the air is warmed. 

4. Channels which are divided by a perpendicular 
diaphragm on the theory that there will be an ascending 
current in one and a descending current in the other, 
are for the most part based on a fallacy, and when the 
heat of the air is very great there will be an upward and 
a downward current in both. 

5. An air-flue by the side of the chimney-flue, into 
which the exit tubes lead, will act in some degree so 
long as there is fire in the chimney to rarefy the air, 
but if an archimedian screw be placed at the top of such 
a flue it will induce an upward current when there is no 
fire, provided there be wind to move it. This apparatus 
may be attached to any air- flue placed in any position. 

6. The use of the chimney -flue as an exit for the air 
is liable to allow the smoke to enter the room through 
it when there is a down draught, notwithstanding the 
excellent contrivances which have been devised to pre- 
vent the return current. 

7. Whenever it is proposed to remove air, means for 
supplying a larger quantity of air should be provided, 
or the attempt at ventilation will be ineffectual. 

8. It is often desirable to warm as much of the air 
which is admitted as possible, and for that purpose 
stoves have been designed with an exit from a special 
channel into the room. When the same object is 



VENTILATION. 



473 



effected by allowing cold air to enter by an opening 
through the wall, and then to direct it over heated 
pipes, the distribution is less satisfactory ; but such 
pipes should be heated with water, and not with steam 
of an uncertain temperature. 

9. Stoves which are placed in the middle of a room 
should be fed with wood and enclosed in an outer skin 
of metal or pottery. With coal and a furious fire, the 
air is not only dried to an injui-ious extent but burnt. 

10. It is more than doubtful whether in our climate, 
or in any moist climate, the ordinary open fire-grate 
can be supplanted with advantage. It is otherwise in 
countries where the air is very cold and dry. 

Much dogmatic teaching has been given to the public 
within a few years as to the quantity of air which must 
be supplied to a man in order to maintain uniformity 
of composition of the atmosphere, and it has been 
affirmed with an air of authority that 3,000 cubic feet 
is the proper supply per hour : that is to say, air enough 
to fill three rooms ten feet square and ten feet high 
must be given per hour : but Angus Smith, by a series 
of experiments and calculations, has found the fol- 
lowing to be a true estimate of a man's requirements. 
The second column shows the quantity of fresh air to 
be supplied to a man per hour to prevent the propor- 
tion of carbonic acid exceeding that mentioned in the 
first column — 

No. 154. 



arbonic Acid 

per cent. 

•02 


Cu. ft. of air re- 
quired per hour 
2-000 


Carbonic Acid 

per cent. 

•08 


Cu. ft. air re- 
quired per hour 
500 


•03 




1-333 


•09 




444 


•04 




1-000 


•10 




400 


•05 




800 


•20 




200 


•06 




665 


•30 




133 


•07 




571 


•40 




100 



Hence, if we take the standard composition of the 



474 GASEOUS FOODS. 

free atmosphere, the quantity of air required, instead of . 
3,000 cubic feet per hour, is 1,000 cubic feet, and if the 
standard be '08 per cent, it is 500 cubic feet, whilst, 
with the maximum of '10 per cent., it is only 400 
cubic feet. Such calculations have an air of precision 
which seem to add to their authority, but we must 
endeavour to arrive at a true estimate of their value. 
There can be no doubt that the tendency of many 
scientific authorities, as of architects, has been recently 
to erect great buildings, and to require a great amount 
of space for each occupant, by which the cost has been 
enormously increased, and heavy burdens laid upon 
the ratepayers; and it is certainly time that they 
should be called upon to show, not only opinions and 
inferences, but that proofs of a conclusive character 
have been obtained in support of them. A degree of 
influence little short of tyranny has been established, 
which, although somewhat on the wane, still calls for 
enquiry from those whose only aim is to give effect 
to such recommendations, and Angus Smith has done 
good service in taking ground on which resistance may 
be offered. 

But whatever may be the quantity of air required per 
hour, it is most difficult to determine the quantity 
actually allowed, for men do not live in boxes with one 
inlet and one outlet, or with any number of inlets and 
outlets under perfect control, but partly in the open air, 
where the quantity is unlimited, and partly in rooms 
which have doors opened without regulation, windows 
opened occasionally, and an ascent of air in the 
chimney-flue varying with the fire which is in the 
grate, and all these are influenced by the direction 
and force of the wind and variation of the temperature. 
It is not possible to estimate the quantity of air which 



VENTILATION. 475 

is allotted to a man -ander such circumstances, and 
useless to pretend that it can be at all times the same. 
If, however, we take closed rooms, such as prison 
cells, and bed-rooms in actual use, and quite close every 
door, window, and chimney, whilst the whole ventila- 
tion is arranged by mechanical means, it will be pos- 
sible to effect this object. 

As the calculation is inapplicable to ordinary rooms, 
the space to be occupied by a man in a room has been 
the most feasible subject of enquiry, and again on 
theoretical grounds, as well as on experience of ven- 
tilated rooms, the tendency has been to require too 
large an amount of space. 

Dr. Angus Smith, in his examination of the sick 
ward of London workhouses, where 500 cubic feet of 
air-space were allowed to each inmate in well-ventilated 
wards, found as follows : — 

No. 155. 



Day . 


Oxygen 

per cent. 

. 20-893 


Carbonic Acid 
per cent. 
0-0568 


Midnight . 


. 20-875 


0-0780 


5 A.M. 


. 20-869 


0-0802 



On selecting the four best-ventilated wards, the pro- 
portions were more favourable, viz. — 

No. 156. 

Oxygen Carbonic Acid 

per cent. per cent. 

Day .... 20-92 0-0463 

Midnight . . . 20-886 0-0677 

Morning . . . 20-884 0-0694 

These results are quite within the limits of healthy 
air- feeding, when compared with the composition of the 
free London atmosphere already given, and yet it is 
affirmed that there is danger to health if four times 
that space, or 2,000 feet, be not appropriated to each 



476 GASEOUS FOODS. 

occupant of a room by day and night. There can be 
no doubt that in well-ventilated rooms a supply of good 
air may be obtained with less than the half of the larger 
requirement, and whether in our own houses or in 
public buildings the aim should be to utilise space to 
the utmost by proper renewal of the air. 



INDEX 



ABO 

ABOUT, M., on Greek wine, 400 
Acetic acid, 232 
—.ethers, 232 
Adulterations ; 

— beer, 413 

— milk, 319 

— sugar, 256 

— tea, 340 

— wheat flour, 176 
Albumen, 91 

— composition of animal and vege- 

table, 91 
Alcohols, 371 

— in wines, 390 
AUsopp's ale, 413 

Almen, Prof., on Liebig's extract, 

89 
Almond, 227 

— milk, 163 

America, butter-making, 129 
American wine, 402 
Ammonia in water, 284 

— in air, 455 
Amydon, 146 

Anderson's analysis of cabbage, 207 
Angus Smith, Dr., on air and water, 

273, 475 
Animals storing up flesh, 59 
Antelope, 72 
Antiseptic gases, 27 
Ants, 86 
Apple, 218 

— Alligator, 219 

— Custard, 218 

— Elephant, 223 

— Mammec, 219 
Apricot, 222 

— Dingaan's, 223 
Arabs: Frumenty» 177 



BED 

Ardent spirits, 373 
Arlidge, Dr., on tea, 35 
Aroma of wines, 406 
Arrack, 387 
Arrowroot, 239 
Artichoke, 202 
Aitificial milk, 326 
Ass as food, 72 
Assam tea, 338, 344 
Atmospheric air, 435 

in water, 275 

acids in, 455 

Auslese wine, 389 
Australian wines, 401 
Ava, 417 

BACOX, 64 
— composition of, 67 

— curing, 65 

— use to poor, 65 
Ballyshannon eels, 110 
Bananas, 219 
Baobab, 236, 239 

Bareilly: Barley and wheat flour^ 

195 
Bargout, 169 
Barley, 193, 407 

— malting, 408 

— sugar, 262 

Bass, Mr., before IMr. Knox, 433 
Bass's ale, 413 
Bates on turtle, 118 
Bats, 86 

— prohibited, 86 
Beans, 153 

Beaumont's experiments on diges- 
tion. See each food 
Bedouins, 206 

— eac locusts, 86 



478 



INPEX. 



BEE 

Beef, 46 

• — composition of, 47 

— cooked, composition of, 49 

— offal, 47 

— proportion of lean and fat, 47 
Beer, 407 

Beer Street, 372 
Bermuda arrowroot, 242 
Beetroot, 204 

— sugar, 257 
Betel pepper, 237 
Bhat, 165 
Bilberries, 217 

Birds, graminivorous and carnivo- 
rous, 101 

— kinds used as food, 104 
Birds' nests, 94 
Biscuits, 188 

Bison, 71 

Bisulphite of lime, 28 
Blackberries, 217 
Black puddings, 83 
Black Sea wheat, 172 
Blood, 18 

— as food, 83 

— composition of, 84 

— diseased, 85 

— of fowl, 103 

— prohibition of, 84 
Boar's head, carol on, 68 

recipe, 15th century, 68 

Boaz, 194 

Bone, 38 

— composition of, 39 

— in carcass, 48 

— nutritive value, 40 
Bordeaux wines, 392 
Boston milk, 313 
Bouza, 162, 416 
Bran, 174 

Brand e on alcohol, 390 
Brandy, 381 
Braxy mutton, 54 
Brazilian nuts, 228 

— tea, 338 
Bread, 181 

— weight and price of, in 1775, 192 
Breadfruit, 205 

Brine, composition of, 35, 36 
Broccoli, 207 

Broth, composition of, 49, 53, 61 
Brown bread, 176 

— flour, 176 



CHE 

Brwchan, 169 
Buckland, F., on fish, 108 
Budram, 169 
Burckhardt, 206 
Burgoul, 178 
Burgundy wine, 393 
Burton, Capt.: Cassava, 245 
Butter, 127 

— factories, 129 

— in workhouses, 134 
Buttermilk, 328 
Butter-nut, 220 
Buzzard, 101 



CABBAGE, 207 
Californian wine, 403 
Calvert, Prof., analysis of wheat, 

181 
Calves killed, 51 

in Boston, 51 

Camel's flesh, 58 

— milk, 318 
Canterbury gurnets, 109 
Cape of Good Hope wine, 401 
Capelin, 108 

Capitone, 111 

Carbonic acid in air, 450 

Cardamoms, 235 

Carissa, 223 

Carolina rice, 163 

Carrion birds, 101 

Carrots, 203 

Cartilage, 40 

Casein, 94, 121 

Cassareep, 239 

Cassava, 244 

Cassia, 236 

Castes of India eating dead animals, 

55 
Caviare, 113 
Cayenne pepper, 235 
Cellulose, 151 
Ceylon : Cassia, 236 
Champagne wine, 393 
Chapman's process, 287 
Charlock, 208 
Charqui, 35 

Chaucer and Wiclif, 233 
Chavica, 237 
Cheese, 120 

— known to ancients, 120 
Cherries, 217 



INDEX. 



479 



CHE 

Chestnut, 228 

Chica, 416 

Chickpea, 153 

Cliicory, 368 

Chili potato, 198, 203 

Chinese sugar grass, 256 

Chlorine in water, 297 

Chocolate, 369 

Christison, Sir R., on salmon, 108 

Chych, 153 

Cider, 415 

Cinnamon, 236 

Claret, 388 

Clark's process, 280 

Classification, 1-3, 15 

Climate on vital functions, 1 1 

Cloves, 236 

Cocoa, 369 

Cocoa nut, 227 

Coffee, 359, 362 

— leaves, 358 

— planting, 360 

— pots, 364 
Cognac, 381 

Cold to preserve meat, 25 

Composition of structures of the 
body, 7 

Condiments, 229 

Congou tea, 345, &c. 

Connection of animals and vege- 
tables, 3, 4, 8 

Cooked meat, composition of beef, 
49, 54 

Cooking egar, 96 

—fish, 11 r 

— flesh, 19 

— starch, 148 

— loss of weight, beef, 49 

mutton, 53 

pork, 61 

Cotgrave on amydon, 146 
Cotton-seed oil, 248 
Couscousou, 246 

Crab. See Shell fish 
Craig's prepared fat, 29 

— pea -meal food, 156 
Crane, 102 

Crane's, Dr., factory, 321 
Cream, 327 

— cheese. 126 
Cubebs, 234 
Cucumbers, 209 

— oil of, 248 



EXT 

Cumberland bacon, 66 
Curlew, 102 
Currants, 216, 222 
Curry powder, 238 
Custard apple, 218 
Cyprus wine, 163 



DAHLS, 153 
Daly, Dr., on preserved milk, 

323 
Darby's fluid meat, 89 
Darjeeling tea, 344 
Dates, 217 

Dauglish, Dr., bread making, 183 
Day and night on vital actions, 1 1 
Dead animals eaten, 54, 55 
De Caisue, milk of suckling women, 

316 
Denman, Mr., on Greek wines, 397 
Derbyshire oatmeal, 168 
Dried meat, 23 
Dripping, 141 

Dumplings, Somersetshire, 189 
Dupre on wine, 421 
Dyke, 136 
Dynamic force, 6. See also each 

food 



EARTH-NUT, 228 
Economy in joints, 44 
Edward IV. regulating sale of 

bread, 192 
Eels, 110 

Effect of foods on respiration : Beef, 
49 

casein, 94 

eggs, 92 

isinglass, 93 

Eggs, 92, 95 

— composition of, 99 

— cooked, 96 

— importation of, 98 
Eland, 72 

Elgin fectory, 322 
English lakes, 284, &c. 
Exertion on vital functions, 12 
Extract of meat, 86 

composition of, 87 

Liebig on, 88 

small nutritive value, 89 



480 



INDEX. 



FAL 

FALSTAFF on wine, 391 
Fat cells, 138 
Fat, composition of, 45 

— in animals, 137 

— liked by consumptives, 129 

— refined, 29 

— - to preserve meat, 28 

— vegetable, 246 
Fattening animals, 59 
Feet, 80, 81 
Fennel, 208 

Fermentation of malt, 41 1 
Factitious wine, 403 
Figs, 217 

I'ilberts, 228 
Filters, 308 
Fish, 105 

— composition of, 107 

— white and red blooded, 107 
Fleetings, 329 

Flesh, anatomical composition of, 
16, 17 

— juice, 18 

— tender, 18 

— effect of cooking, 19 
Fowl, blood of, 103 

— composition of, 103 
Frankland's experiments. See each 

food 

on water, 288, 294 

French wines, 392 

Fresenius : Analyses. See each food 

Frigoles, 153 

Frogs, 86 

Fruits, succulent, 213 

— albuminous, 225 
Frumenty, 177 



GAME, 100 
— kinds of, 100 
Garlic, 238 

Gas used in making bread, 184 
Gaseous foods, 435 
Gelatin, 92, 197 
German wines, 393 
Ghee, 136 
Gin, 383 
Gin Lane, 372 
Ginger, 224, 237 
— beer, 416 
Gironde wines, 390 
Gluten, 179, 197 



ICE 

Goatsbeard, 208 

Goat's flesh, 57 

Golden s^Tup, 261 

Gooroo nut, 229 

Gooseberries, 222 

Gram, 249 

Graminivorous birds, 101 

Grains of Paradise, 235 

Granadilla, 220 

Grape juice, 216, 388 

Greek wines, 397 

Green vegetables, 207 

Groats, 169 

Gruyere cheese, 122 

Guava, 219 

Gulliver, Prof., on Canterbury guir- 

nets, 109 
Gunpowder tea, 345 



HAGGIS, 78 
Hamburg beef, 24 

— wine, 403 
Hard water, 279 
Hare, 104 

Hart's brown meal, 180 
Hassall's dried meat, 23 
Hazel nuts, 228 
Heat to preserve meat, 30 

defects of method, 33 

Henley's method of preserving meat, 

38 
Herbs, 207 

Herepath : Potatoes, 200 
Heron, 102 
Herring, 110 
Hertfordshire ale, 414 
Hog and hominy, 69 
Holland, 383 ^ 
Home-made wine, 403 
Hominy, 159 
Honey, 263 

— wine, 417 
Hops, 408 
Horse-flesh, 72 

dinner of, at Langham ^otel, 

74 
Hungarian wines, 396 
Hurreah, 387 



TCE-FIELDS, 26 
JL Ice-making, 26 



INDEX. 



481 



ICE 

Iceland moss, 213 
Iguana, 85 

Impurities in water, 27''i 
Indian corn, 156 

— tea. 338 
Infants' milk, 316 

— preserved milk, 323 
Irish buttermilk, 329 
Isinglass, 93 

— effect of, 93 



TACK-NUT, 228 
fj Japan tea, 339 
Jatropha, 214 
Joints of meat, 42, 48 
Jonathan, 161, 171 
Jones's method of preserving meat, 

28; 31 
Jowaree, 162 
Juice of flesh, 18 

extracted by cooking, 21 

Julpaun, 165 



I TAFFIES: Umbila, 160 
L Kangaroo, 72 
Karatas, 220 

Kean on selection of meat, 52 
Kemmayo, 206 
Ketchup, 239 
Kola-nut, 229 
Koumiss, 417 



LALLEMAND, M., on wine, 421 
Lamb, 57 
Lamb, C, on sucking pig, 84 
Lamprey, 110 

Langham Hotel, dinner at, of horse- 
flesh, 74 
Lard, 139 
Laurus, 236 
Laver, 213 

Lawes and Gilbert. See various 
foods 

'- — on carcass, 47 

— on milk, 314 

Lean, composition of, 47 

— and fat meat, proportion of, 43 

properties of, 45 

Leban, 417 

Legs and shins of beef, 48 



MEX 

Leipsic soup-kitchen, 49, 53, 61 

Lentils, 153 

Leveret, 104 

Levitical prohibition of food, 55, 68, 

84, 85, 86, 103, 104, 111 
Lichens, 212 

Liebig's extract of meat, 86 
Lignine, 151 
Lime in wine, 391 
Linseed, 248 
Liver, 78 

— composition of, 79 
Liverpool workhouse milk, 313 
Lizards, 85 

— prohibited, 86 
Llymru, 167 
Lobster, 117 
Locusts, 86 
Loquat, 220 

Loss of weight in cooking beef, 48 
Lungs, 79 
Lupuline, 408 



MACAEONI, 190 
McDougall : Phosphatic flour, 
180, 185 
Mace, 234 
Madeira wine, 400 
Maize, 156 
Malai, 327 
Malting, 408 
Mammec apple, 219 
Mango, 223 
Mangosteen, 219 
Mangrove swamps, 249 
Man i hot, 245 
Manioc, 244 
Manna, 266 
Maple sugar, 256 
Maslin, 196 
Mate tea, 358 
Measly pork, 62 
Meat, extract, 86 

— fluid, 89 

— lean 'and fat, 41, 43 

— preserved, 22 

Medlock and Bailey's method of 

preserving meat, 28 
Medoc wine, 392 
Melon, 219 
Metheglin, 387 
Mexico: Beans and frigoles, 153 



482 



INDEX. 



MEX 

Mexico: tortilla, 159 
Mignot's machine, 26 
Milk, 312 

— sugar. 259 

Miller, Prof. : Water, 275 
Millet, 152, 161, 246 
Mineral waters, 310 
Minerals in water, 276 
Mint, 236 
Moad, 387 
Mocha coffee, 362 
Molasses, 26], 384 
Monkey, 86 
Monkey-nut, 248 
Montilla wine, 394 
Morgan's method of preserving meat, 
35 

fluid, 36 

Mulberries, 217 
Murrua, 416 
Muscle of fly, 17 
Mushrooms, 210 
Mussels. See Shell fish 
Mustard, 235 
Mutton, 52 

— composition of, 54 



NAPLES macaroni, 190 
Npssler's reagent, 290 
Nettle, 208 

Neufchatel cheese, 127 
Nicaragua tasajo, 153 
Nitrates and nitrites in water, 287, 

297 
Nitrogenous compounds in air, 453 

— foods, animal, 1 5 

— — vegetable, 143 
Nutmegs, 223, 234 
Nuts, 226 

— monkey, 248 



OATS, 166 
Offil, proportion of, 47 

— various kinds, 75 

— compoi^ition of, 76 
Oils, animal, 142 

— olive, 247 

— from seeds, 248 
Omentum, 79 
Oolong tea, 344 

Organic matter in water, 282 



POR 

Organic matter in air, 454 

Oxen storing up flesh, 59 

Ox-hea*d, 27 

Oxygen in atmospheric air, 446 

Oyster beds, 115, 116 

Oysters, 115 

— in India and Ceylon, 115 

Ozone, 448 



PADDY rice, 164 
Palava sauce, 239 
Pale ale, 412 
Palm wine, 403 
Pancreas, 79 
Paraguay tea, 358 
Parched rice, 165 

— corn, 194 
Parmesan cheese, 122 
Parsnips, 203 
Passover cake, 170 

Payen's analyses. See different 

foods 
Peach palm, 220 
Peacock, 102 
Pea meal, 156, 173 
Pearl barley, 195 
Pekoe tea, 339, 344 
Penimican, 29 
Pepper, 233 
Perry, 415 
' Philosophical Transactions,' papers 

in, 49 
Phosphates added to flour, 180 
Pie at Haddon Hall, 102 
' Pieces,' sugar, 254 
Pig storing up fat, 59 

— wild, 67 
Pigeon pears, 220 
Pig's head, 77 
Pilchards, 113 
Plantain, 206 
Plaster of Paris, 173 
Plums, 222 
Poached eggs, 97 

Pohl: Analysis of potato, 199 
Polenta, 159, 246 
Pollard, 179 
Pomegranate, 219 
Pork, 58 

— composition of, 60 

— collared, 81 

— diseased, 62 



INDEX. 



483 



POK 

Pork, pickled, 63 
~ wild, 67 
Porpoise, 177 
Porter, 407 
Portuguese wines, 394 
Potato, 198 

— diseased, 201 
Potted meat, 29 
Poultry, 100 
Preserved meat, 22 

by coating, 28 

by cold, 25 

by drying, 23 

by gases, 27 

— _ by heat, 30 

by pressure, 38 

by salt, 34 

— milk, 320 

Pressure on atmosphere, 442 

— to preserve meat, 38 
Prickly pear, 219 

Prince of Wales at Haddon Hall, 

102 
Privy Council Eeports, 175 
Pi'ussian pea sausages, 156 
Puddings and pastry, 189 
Pulsation and respiration, daily, 9 

season, 1 1 

Pumpkin, 209 



RABBIT, 104 
Kacoon, 105 
Raisins, 216 
Rapeseed oil, 248 
Raspberries, 221 
Recipes, 14th century: 

apple tart, 218 

beans, 154 

blanc mange, 163 

collared pork, 81 

fish soup, 112 

frumenty, 177 

jelly of fish, 1 1 3 

macaroni, 191 

rice, 162 

salad, 207 

— venison, 71 

wild pig, 68 

Redwood, Prof.: Preserving meat, 

28 
Respiration, hourly, 11 
— witi exertion, 12 



SCH 

Respiratory foods, 259 

Rhubarb, 210 

Rice, 162 

Richardson, Dr. B. W., on alcohols, 

424 

quince, 223 

quass, 416 

Eivers Pollution Commission, 284 

301 
Roe of fish, 113 
Royal Society papers. See various 

foods and 428 
Eum, 384 
Ruth, 194 
Rye, 196 



SAGO, 240 
— palm, 241 
Salmon, composition of, 107, 108 

— dried, 112 

— roe, 113 
Salmonidse, 108 
Salt, 229 

— in water, 298 
Salted meat, 34 

effect of salt, 36 

Salts of blood. 85 
Santorin wines, 399 
Sausages, 80, 82 

— Majorca, 83 

— Prussian, 83 
Scented teas, 334 

Schlossberger : Analysis of mush- 
rooms, 211 

Schonbein, 449 

Seagull, 101 

Seakale, 209 

Season on vital actions, 11 

Seaweeds, 212 

Secale, 196 

Seed oil, 248 

Seeds, 145 

Semolina, 245 

Shakspeare on cheese, 123 

Shea butter, 247 

Sheep, breed of, on miitton, 53 

— storing up fiesh, 59 
She«p's head, 77 
Shellfish, 114 
Shepis talon, 81 
Shor, 327 
Schulze's process, 287 



484 



INDEX. 



SIC 



WAT 



Sicilian wines, 400 

Siliceous cuticle, 150 

Simpson, Dr.: Fish in Dacca, 105 

Skin, 76 

Slugs in China, 85 

Smelts, 110 

Smith, Dr. Angus, on air and water, 

447, «fcc. 
Snails, 85 

— prohibited, 85 
Snakes, 86 
Soap test, 280 

Society of Arts, Papers at, 175, 3i5, 

423 
Solid particles in air, 452 
Soup, ox-head, 78 
Sources of food, 3 
Sowans, 167 
Spanish wines, 394 
Sparkling hock, 394 
Specific gravity of potatoes, 199 

beers, 412 
Spices, 232 
Squirrels, 105 
Starch, 239 

— cells, 147 

Stevens's bread-making-machine, 185 

Stewed flesh, 20 

Stirabout, 159 

Strawberries, 214, 221 

Structures of body, 7 

Subbotin, M., on wine, 421 

Sucan, 167 

Sucking pig, 63 

Suet, 139 

Sugar, 249 

— cane, 252 

— candy, 262 

— grass, 256 

— making, 252 

Sulphurous acid to preserve mtat, 

27 
Swan, 101 
Sweet potato, 202 
Sweetbread of calf, 61, 79 



rrAPIOCA, 240 

J. Tartary bouza, 162 

'J asajo, 163 

'iea, 330 

— plant, 332 

— classification, 339 



Tea picking, 336 

— preparation, 337 

— substitutes for, 341 
TefF, 417 

Tellier, M., method of preserving 

meat, 24, 26 
Temperature of atmospheric air, 440 
Thames water, 275 
Thermometric force, 5. See also 

each food 
Tinned meat, 32 
Tobacco, 237 
Tokay wine, 397 
Tomatos, 209 
Tongue, 76 '■. 
Tortilla, 159 
Treacle, 261 

— beer, 416 
Trichina spiralis, 62 
Tripe, 80 

— composition of, 80 
Tucker's analysis of cocoa, 370 
Turkey, wild, 103 
Turmeric, 238 

Turnip, prairie, 203 

— Swede, 203 
Turtle, 118 

Tyndall, Prof., on air, 453 



TTMBILA, 160 
U lire's analyses, 262 
Uses, 4 



VAPOUR in air, 458 
. Veal, 50 

— composition of, 51 
Vegetable foods, 143 
succulent, 197 

— jelly, 94 

— marrows, 209 
Venison, 70 
Ventilation, 459 
Vetches, 153 
Vinegar, 230 

Voelcker, Prof., on cheese, 124 

whey, 330 

Voit, M., on wine, 421 



WANKLYN, 287, 291, 303 
Water, 269 



INDEX. 



485 



WAT 

Water in butter, 134 
Watts' Dictionary, 309 
Weiss-bier, 195, 416 
Wheat, 179 
Wheaten flour, 171 

grinding of, 178 

Wliev, 329 

Whiskey, 378 

White's butter casks, 131 

Whitebait, 108 

Wild animals as food, 72 

- pig, 67 

Willard, Prof,, on butter factories, 

129 
milk, 321 



ZEB 

Wine, 387 

— manufacture, 389 
Wynkin de Worde, carol on boar's 
head, 68 



YAM, 202 
Yaoust, 417 
Yelk of egg used in oil colours, 
Yucca, 202 



ZANZIBAR lizards, 85 
— \\ild pig, 67 
Zebra, 72 



International Scientific Series. 



D. Appleton & Co. have the pleasure of announcing that they have made arrange* 
ments for publishing, and have recently commenced the issue of, a Sicries of Popular 
Monographs, or small works, under the above tide, which will embody the results of 
recent inquiry' in the most interesting departments of advancing science. 

The character and scope of this series will be best indicated by a reference to the 
names and subjects included in the subjoined list, from which it will be seen that the 
cooperation of the most distinguished professors in England, Germany, France, and the 
United States, has been secured, and negotiations are pending for contributions from 
other eminent scientific writers. 

The works will be issued m New York, London, Paris, Leipsic, Milan, and St 
Petersburg. 

The I NTERKATioxAL Scientific Series is entirely an American project, and was 
originated and organized by Dr. E. L. Youmans, who spent the greater part of a year 
in Europe, arranging with authors and publishers. The forthcoming volumes are as 
follows : 



Prof. Lommel (University of Eriangen), 
Optics. (In press.) 

Rev. M. J. Berkeley, M. A., F. L. S., 
and M. Cooke, M. A., LL. D., 
Fungi; tluir Nature, Itifliietices, 
and Uses. (In press.) 

Prof. W, Kingdom Clifford, M. A., The 
First Principles of the Exact Sciences 
explained to the non-niathcmatical. 

Prof. T. H. Huxley, LL. D., F. R. S., 
Bodily MotioJt and Consciousness. 

Dr. W. B. Carpenter, LL. D., F. R. S., 
The Physical Geography of the Sea. 

Prof. WiLUAM Odlong, F. K. S., The Old 
Chemistry viewed from the New 
Standpoint. 

W. Lauder Linds.w, M. D., F. R. S.E., 
Mifid in the Lower A nijnals. 

Sir John Lubbock, Bart., F. R. S., The 
A ntiquity of Man. 

Prof W. T. Thiselton Dyer, B. A., 
B. Sc, Fortn and Habit in Flower- 
ing Plants. 

Mr. J. N. Lockyer, F. R. S., Spectrztm 
A nalysis. 

Prof. Michael Foster, M. D., Proto- 
plasm and the Cell Theory. 

Prof. W. Stanley Jevons, Money : and 
the Mechanism of Exchange. 

H. Charlton Bastian, M. D., F. R. S., 
The Brain as an Organ of Mind. 

Prof. A. C. Ramsay, LL. D.. F. R. S., 
Earth Sculpture : Hills, Valleys, 
Mountains, Plains, Rivers, Lakes ; 
hoiv they were produced, and how 
they have been destroyed. 

Prof. Rudolph Virchow (Berlin Univer- 
sity), Morbid Physiological Action. 

Prof, Claude Bernard, Physical and 
Metaphysical Phenomena of Life. 

Prof. H. Sainte-Claire Deville, An 
Introdiiction to General Chemistry. 

Prof WuRTZ, Atoms a7id the Atomic 
Theory. 

Prof. De Quatrefages, The Negro 
Races. 



Prof Lacaze-Duthiers, Zoology since 

Cuvier. 
Prof Berthelct, Chemical Syjithesis. 
Prof. J. Rosenthal, General Physiology 

of Muscles and Nerves. 
Prof. James D. D.^na, M. A., LL. D., On 

Cephalization ; or, Head-Characters 

in the Giadation atid Progress of 

Life. 
Prof S. W. Johnson, M. A., On the Nu- 

tritioji if Plants. 
Prof. Austin Flint, Jr., M. D., Tht 

No'vous System and its Relation t& 

the Bodily Ftinctions. 
Prof W. D. Whitney, Modern Lingids- 

tic Science, 
Prof C. A. Young, Ph. D. (of Dartmouth 

College), TJic Sun. 
Prof Bernstein (University of Halle), 

Physiology of the Senses. 
Prof. Ferdinand Cohn (Breslau Univer- 
sity), Thallophytes {Algcre, Lichens, 

Fungi). 
Prof. Hermann (University of Zurich), 

Respiration. 
Prof. Leuckart (University of Leipsic), 

Outlines of A nimal Organization. 
Prof LiEBKEiCH (University of Berlin), 

Outline's of Toxicology. 
Prof Kundt (University of Strasburg), 

On Sotitid. 
Prof Rees (University of Eriangen), On 

Parasitic Plants. 
Prof Steinthal (University of Berlin), 

Outlines of the Science of Latiguage. 
E. Alglave (Professor of Constitutional 

and Administrative Law at Douai, and 

of Political Economy at Lille), The 

Primitive Elements of Political Con- 
stitutions. 
P. Lorain (Professor of Medicine, Paris), 

Modern Epidemics. 
Prof ScHUTZENBERGER (Director of the 

Chemical Laboratory at the Sorbonne), 

0?i Fermentations. 
Mons. Debr.vy, P7-ecious Metals, 



opinions of the Press on the ^^International Scientific Series,^ 



TyndalFs Forms of Water. 

I vol., i2mo. Cloth. Illustrated Price, $1.50. 

" In the volume now published, Professor Tyndall has presented a noble illustration 
of the acuteness and subtlety of his intellectual powers, the scope and insight of his 
scientific vision, his singular command of the appropriate language of exposition, and 
the peculiar vivacity and grace with which he unfolds the results of intricate scientific 
research." — N. Y. Tribune. 

"The 'Forms of Water,' by Professor Tyndall, is an interesting and instructive 
little volume, admirably printed and illustrated. Prepared expressly for this series, it 
is in some measure a guarantee of the excellence of the volumes that will follow, and an 
indication that the publishers will spare no pains to include in the series the freshest in- 
vestigations of the best scientific minds." — Boston Journal. 

" This series is admirably commenced by this little volume from the pen of Prof. 
Tyndall. A perfect master of his subject, he presents in a style easy and attractive his 
methods of investigation, and the results obtained, and gives to the reader a clear con- 
ception of all the wondrous transformations to which water is subjected." — Churchvian. 



II. 

Bagehot's Physics and Politics. 

I vol., l2mo. Price, $1.50. 

" If the ' International Scientific Series ' proceeds as it has begun, it will more than 
fulfil the promise given to the reading public in its prospectus. The first volume, by 
Professor Tyndall, was a model of lucid and attractive scientific exposition ; and now 
we have a second, by Mr. Walter Bagehot, which is not only very lucid and charming, 
but also original and suggestive in the highest degree. Nowhere since the publication 
of Sir Henry Maine's 'Ancient Law,' have we seen so many fruitful thoughts sug- 
gested in the course of a couple of hundred pages. ... To do justice to Mr. Page- 
hot' s fertile book, would require a long article. With the best of intentions, we are 
conscious of having given but a sorry account of it in these brief paiagraphs. But we 
hope we have said enough to commend it to the attention of the thoughtful leader."— 
Prof John Fiske, in the A tlafttk Monthly. 

"Mr. Bagehot's style is clear and vigorous. We refrain from giving a fuller ac- 
count of these suggestive essays, only because we are sure that our readers will fird it 
worth their while to peruse the book for themselves ; and we sincerely hope that the 
forthcoming parts of the 'International Scientific Series' will be as interesting."-^ 
A thenceiint. 

" Mr. Bagehot discusses an immense variety of topics connected with the progress 
of societies and nations, and the development of their distinctive pecuharities; and his 
book shows an abundance of ingenious and original thought."'— Alfked Rusjeli 
Wallach, in Nature. 

D. APPLETON & CO., Publishers, 549 & 551 Broadway, N. Y. 



opinions of the Press on the " International Scientific Series,^'* 



III. 

Foods. 

By Dr. EDWARD SMITH. 
I vol., i2mo. Cloth. Illustrated Price, $1.75, 

111 making up The International Scientific Series, Dr. Edward Smith was se- 
lected as the ablest man in England to treat the important subject of Foods, His services 
were secured for the undertaking, and the little treatise he has produced shows that the 
choice of a writer on this subject was most fortunate, as the book is unquestionably the 
clearest and best-digested compend of the Science of Foods that has appeared in our 
language. 

" The book contains a series of diagrams, dispfeying the effects of sleep and meals 
on pulsation and respiration, and of various kinds of food on respiration, which, as the 
results of Dr. Smith's own experiments, possess a very high value. We have not far 
to go in this work for occasi'>as of favorable criticism ; they occur throughout, but are 
perhaps most apparent in those parts of the subject with which Dr. Smith's name is es- 
pecially linked." — London Exajniiicr. 

" The union of scientific and popular treatment in the composition of this work will 
afford an attraction to many readers who would have been indifferent to purely theoreti- 
cal details. . . . Still his work abounds in information, much of which is of great value, 
and a part of which could not easily be obtained from other sources. Its interest is de- 
cidedly enhanced for students who demand both clearness and exactness of statement, 
by the profusion of well-executed woodcuts, diagrams, and tables, which accompany th^ 
volume. . . . The suggestions of the author on the use of tea and coffee, and of the va- 
rious forms of alcohol, although perhaps not stricdy of a novel character, are highly in- 
structive, and form an interesting portion of the volume." — N, Y. Tribune. 



IV. 



Body 



and Mind, 



THE THEORIES OF THEIR RELATION. 

By ALEXANDER BAIN, LL. D. 

I vol., i2mo. Cloth Price, $1.50. 

Professor Bai.n is the author of two well-known standard works upon the Science 
of Mind — "The Senses and the Intellect," and "The Emotions and the Will." He is 
one of the highest living authorities in the school which holds that there can be no sound 
or valid psychology unless the mind and the body are studied, as they exist, together. 

" It contains a forcible statement of the connection between mind and body, study- 
ing their subtile interworkings by the light of the most recent physiological investiga- 
tions. The summary in Chapter V., of the in\estigations of Dr. Lionel Beale of the 
embodiment of the intellectual functions in the cerebral system, will be found the 
freshest and most interesting part of his book. Prof. Bain's own theory of the crnnec- 
tion between the mental and the bodily part in man is stated by himself to be as follows: 
There is ' one substance, with two sets of properties, two sides, the physical and the 
mental — ^a double-faced unity.' While, in the strongest manner, asserting the union 
of mind with brain, he yet denies 'the association of imion in place' but asserts the 
union of close succession in time,' holding that ' the same being is, by alternate fits, un- 
der extended and under unextended consciousness." ' — Christian Register. 

D. APPLETON & CO., Publishers, 549 & 551 Broadway, N. Y. 



opinions of the Press on the ^''International Sciejitijic Series.''^ 

V. 

The Study of Sociology. 

By HERBERT SPENCER. 
I vol., l2mo. Cloth Price, $1.50. 

" The philosopher whose distinguished name gives weight and influence to this vol- 
ume, has given in its pages some of the finest specimens of reasoning in all its forms 
and departments. There is a fascination in his array of facts, incidents, and opinions, 
which draws on the reader to ascertain his conclusions. The coolness and calmness of 
his treatment of acknowledged difficulties and grave objections to his theories win for 
him a close attention and sustained effort, on the part of the reader, to comprehend, fol- 
low, grasp, and appropriate his principles. This book, independently of its bearing 
upon sociology, is valuable as lucidly showing what those essential charactei istics are 
which entitle any arrangement and connection of facts and deductions to be called a 
science. " — Episcopaliaji. 

" This work compels admiration by the evidence which it gives of immense re- 
search, study, and observation, and is, withal, written in a popular and very pleasing 
style. It is a fascinating work, as well as one of deep practical thought." — Bost. Post. 

" Herbert Spencer is unquestionably the foremost living thinker in the psychological 
and sociological fields, and this volume is an important contribution to the science of 
which it treats. ... It will prove more popular than any of its author's other creations, 
for it is more plainly addressed to the people and has a more practical and less specu- 
lative cast. It will require thought, but it is well worth thanking about." — Albany 
Evening Journal. 

VI. 

The New Chemistry. 

By JOSIAH P. COOKE, JR-, 

Erving Professor of Chemistry and Mineralogy in Harvard University. 

I vol., i2mo. Cloth Price, $2.00. 

" The book of Prof. Cooke is a model of the modern popular science work. It has 
just the due proportion of fact, philosophy, and true romance, to make it a fascinating 
companion, either for the voyage or the study." — Daily Graphic. 

" This admirable monograph, by the distinguished Erving Professor of Chemistry 
in Harvard University, is the first American contribution to 'The International Scien- 
tific Series,' and a more attractive piece of work in the way of popular exposition upon 
a difficult subject has not appeared in a long time. It not only well sustains the char- 
acter of the volumes with which it is associated, but its reproduction in European coun- 
tries will be an honor to American science." — New York Tribtine. 

" All the chemists in the country will enjoy its perusal, and many will seize upon it 
as a thing longed for. For, to those advanced students who have kept well abreast of 
the chemical tide, it offers a calm philosophy. To those others, youngest of the class, 
who have emerged from the schools since new methods have prevailed, it presents a 
generalization, drawing: to its use all the data,_the relations of which the newly-fledged 
fact-seeker may but dimlj' perceive without its aid. ... To the old chemists. Prof. 
Cooke's treatise is like a message from beyond the mountain. They have heard of 
changes in the science; the clash "of the battle of old and new theories has stirred them 
from afar. The tidings, too, had come that the old had given way ; and little more than 
this they knew. . . . Prof Cooke's ' New Chemistry' must do wide service in bringing 
to close sight the little known and the longed for. . . . A.s a philosophy it is elemen- 
tary, but, as a book of science, ordinary readers will find it sufficiently advanced."-^ 
Utica Morfiing Herald. 

D. APPLETON & CO., Publishers, 549 & 551 Broadway, N. Y. 



opinions of the Press on the '■^International Scientijic Series^ 



VII. 

The Conservation of Energy. 

By BALFOUR STEWART, LL. D., W R. S. 

With <tn. Appendix treating of the Vital and Uleniai Applications of th£ Dccirine. 
I vol., i2mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50. 

" The author has succeeded in presenting the facts in a clear and satisfactory manner, 
using simple language and copious illustration in the presentation of facts and prin- 
ciples, confining himself, however, to the physical aspect of the siibject. In the Ap- 
pendix the operation of the principles in the spheres of*life and mind is supplied by 
the essays of Professors Le Contc and Bain." — Ohio Fa7-mer. 

" Prof. Stewart is one of the best known teachers in Owens College in Manchester. 

"The volume of The International Scientific Series now before us is an ex- 
cellent illustration of the true method of teaching, and will well compare with Prof. 
Tyndall's charming little book in the same series on ' Forms of \Vater," with illustra- 
tions encugii to make clear, but not to conceal his thoughts, in a style simple and 
brief." — Cliristian Register, Boston. 

" The writer has wonderful ability to compress much information into a few words. 
It is a rich treat to read such a book as this, when there is so much beauty and force 
combined with such simplicity, — Eastern Fress. 



VIIL 

Animal Locomotion; 

Or, ^^^ALKING, SWIMMING, AND FLYING. 

With a Dissertation on Aeronautics. 

By J. BELL PETTIGREW, M. D., F. R. S., F, R. S. E., 
F. R.C. P.E. 

I vol., 121110 Price, $1.75. 

"This work is more than a contribution to the stock of entertaining knowledge, 
though, if it only pleased, that would be sufficient excuse for its publication. But Dr. 
Pettigrew has given his time to these investigations with the ultimate purpose of solv- 
ing the difficult problem of Aeronautics. To this he devotes the last fifty pages of his 
book. Dr. Pettigrew is confident that man will yet conquer the domain of the air." — 
N. Y. Journal of Comnterce. 

" Most persons claim to know how to walk, but few could explain the mechanical 
principles involved in this most ordinary transaction, and will be surprised that the 
movements of bipeds and quadrupeds, the darting and rushing motion of fish, and the 
erratic flight of the denizens of the air, are not only anoloeous, but can be reduced to 
similar formula. The work is profusely illustrated, and, without reference to the theory 
it is designed to expound, will be regarded as a valuable addition to natural history." 
— Omaha Republic, 

D. APPLETON & CO., Publishers, 549 & 551 Broadway, N. Y, 



opinions of the Press on the ^^International Scientific Series. ^^ 

IX. 

Responsibility in Mental Disease. 

By HENRY MAUDSLEY, M. D., 

Fellow of the Roj'al College of Physicians ; Professor of Medical Jurisprudence 
in University College, London. 

I vol., l2ino. Cloth. . . Price, $1.50. 

"Having lectured in a medical college on Mental Disease, this book has been a 
feast to us. It handles a great subject in a masterly manner, and, in our judgment, the 
positions taken by the author are correct and well s\ist2imed."— Pastor atid People. 

" The author is at home in his subject, and presents his views in an almost singu- 
larly clear and satisfactory manner. . . . The volume is a valuable contribution to one 
of the most difficult, and at the same time one of the most important subjects of inves- 
tigation at the present day." — N. V. Observer. 

" It is a work profound and searching, and abounds in wisdom." — Piitsbiirg Cojn- 
jiiercial. 

" Handles the important topic with masterly power, and its suggestions are prac- 
tical and of great value." — Providence Press. 



The Science of Law. 

By SHELDON AMOS, M.A., 

Professor of Jurisprudence in University College, London; author of "A Systematic 

View of the Science of Jurisprudence," *' An English Code, its Difficulties 

and the Modes of overcoming them," etc., etc. 

I vol., 121110. Cloth Price, $1.75. 

" The valuable series of ' International Scientific \ works, prepared by eminent spe- 
cialists, with the intention of popularizing information in their several branches of 
knowledge, has received a good accession in this compact and thoughtful volume. It 
is a difficult task to give the outlines of a complete theory of law in a portable volume, 
which he who runs may read, and probably Professor Amos himself would be the last 
to claim that he has perfectly succeeded in doing this. But he has certainly done much 
to clear the science of law from the technical obscurities which darken it to minds which 
have had no legal training, and to make clear to his ' lay ' readers in how true and high a 
sense it can assert its right to be considered a science, and not a mere practice." — Thi 
Christian Register. 

"The works of Bentham and Austin are abstruse and philosophical, and Maine's 
require hard study and a certain amount of special training. The writers also pursue 
different lines of investigation, and can only be regarded as comprehensive in the de- 
partments they confined themselves to. It was left to Amos to gather up the result 
and present the science in its fullness. The unquestionable merits of this, his last book, 
are, that it contains a complete treatment of a subject which has hitherto been handled 
by specialists, and it opens up that subject to every inquiring mind. ... To do justice 
to ' The Science of Law ' would require a longer review than we have space for. We 
have read no more interesting and instructive book for some time. Its themes concern 
every one who renders obedience to laws, and who would have those laws the best 
possible. The tide of legal reform which set in fifty years ago has to sweep yet higher 
if the flaws in our jurisprudence are to be removed. The process of change cannot be 
better guided than by a well-informed public mind, and Prof. Amos has done great 
service in materially helping to promote this end." — Buffalo Courier. 

D. APPLETON & CO., Publishers, 549 & 551 Broadway, N. Y. 



opinions of the Press on the ^^International Scientific Series.'' 

XI. 

Animal Mechanism, 

A Treatise on Terrestrial and Aerial Locomotion. 

By E. J. JVfAREY, 

Professor at the College of France, and Member of the Academy of Medicine. 

With 117 Illustrations, drawn and engraved under the direction of the author. 

I vol., i2mo. Cloth Price, $1.75 

" We hope that, in the short glance which we have taken of some of the most im- 
portant points discussed in the work before us, we have succeeded m interesting our 
readers sufficiently in its contents to make them curious to learn more of its subject- 
matter. We cordially recommend it to their attention. 

" The author of the present work, it is well known, stands at the head of those 
phj'siologists who have investigated the mechanism of animal dynamics — indeed, we 
may almost say that he has made the subject his own. By the originality of his con- 
ceptions, the ingenuity of his constructions, the skill of his analysis, and the persever- 
ance of his investigations, he has surpassed all others in the power of unveiling the 
complex and irtfricate movements of animated beings." — Popzdar Science JMoniJily. 



XII. 

History of the Conflict between 
Religion and Science. 

By JOHN WILLIAM DRAPER, M. D., LL. D., 

Author of " The Intellectual Development of Europe." 
I vol., i2mo. Price, $1.75. 

"This little ' History' would have been a valuable contribution to literature at any 
<ime, and is, in fact, an admirable text-book upon a subject that is at present engross- 
ing the attention of a large number of the most serious-minded people, and it is no 
small compliment to the sagacity of its distinguished author that he has so well gauged 
the requirements of the times, and so adequately met them by the preparation of this 
volume. It remains to be added that, while the writer has flinched from no responsi- 
bility in his statements, and has written with entire fidelity to the demands of truth 
and justice, there is not a word in his book that can give oflfense to candid and fair- 
minded readers." — N. Y. Evenifig Post. 

" The key-note to this volume is found in the antagonism between the progressive 
tendencies of the human mind and the pretensions of ecclesiastical authority, as devel- 
oped in the history of modern science. No previous writer has treated the subject 
from this point of view, and the present mouograph will be found to possess no less 
originality of conception than vigor of reasoning and wealth of erudition. . . . The 
method of Dr. Draper, in his treatment of the various questions that come up for dis- 
cussion, IS marked by singular impartiality as well as consummate ability. Through- 
out his work he maintains the position of an historian, not of an advocate. His tone is 
tranquil and serene, as becomes the search after truth, with no trace of the impassioned 
ardor of controversy. He endeavors so far to identify himself with the contending 
parties as to gain a clear comprehension of their motives, but, at the same time, he 
submits their actions to the tests of a cool and impartial examination." — iV. Y. Tribtoie. 

D. APPLETON & CO., Publishers, 549 & 551 Broadway, N. Y. 



RECENT PUBLICATIONS. 



THE NATIVE RACES OF THE PACIFIC STATES. 

By Herbert H. Bancroft. To be completed in 5 vols. Vol. I. now 
ready. Containing Wild Tribes : their Manners and Customs. 
I vol., 8vo. Cloth, $6 ; sheep, $7. 
"We can only say that if the remainiilg volumes are executed in the same spirit ot 
candid and careful investigation, the same untiring industry, and intelligent good sense, 
which mark the volume before us, Mr. Bancroft's ' Native Races of the Pacific States 
will form, as regards aboriginal America, an encyclopaedia of knowledge not only un 
equaled but unapproached. A literary enterprise more deserving of a generous sym- 
pathy and support has never been undertaken on this side of the Atlantic/'-^FRANCiS 
Parkman, in the North A^nerican Reziiezv. 

"The industry, sound judgment, and the excellent literary style displayed in this 
work, cannot be too highly praised." — Boston Fast. 

A BRIEF HISTORY OF CULTURE. 

By John S. Hittell. i vol., i2mo. Price, $1.50. 

" He writes in a popular style for popular use. He takes ground which has never 
been fully occupied before, akhough the general subject has been treated more or less 
distinctly by several writers. . . . Mr. Hittell's method is compact, embracing a wide 
field in a few words, often presenting a mere hint, when a fuller treatment is craved by 
the reader; but, although his book cannot be commended as a model of literary art, it 
may be consulted to great advantage by every lover of free thought and novel sugges- 
tions." — N . Y. Tribune. 

THE HISTORY OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN RE- 
LIGION AND SCIENCE. 

By John W. Draper, M. D., author of "The Intellectual Develop, 
ment of Europe." i vol., i2mo. Cloth. Price, $1.75. 
"The conflict of which he treats has been a mighty tragedy of humanity that has 
dragged nations into its vortex and involved the fate of empires. The work, though 
small, is full of instruction regarding tlie rise of the great ideas of science and philos- 
ophy ; and he describes in an impressive manner and with dramatic eftect the way re- 
ligious authority has employed the secular power to obstruct the progress of knowledge 
and crush out the spirit of investigation. While there is not in his book a word of dis- 
respect for things sacred, he writes with a directness of speech, and a vividness of char- 
acterization and an unflinching fidelity to the facts, which show him to be in thorough 
earnest widi his work. The ' History of the Conflict between Religion and Science' 
is a fitting sequel to the 'History of the Intellectual Development of Europe,' and will 
add to its author's already high reputation as a philosophic historian." — iV. Y. Tribune. 

THEOLOGY IN THE ENGLISH POETS. 

COWPER, COLERIDGE, WORDSWORTH, and BURNS. By 
Rev. Stopford Brooke, i vol., i2mo. Price, $2. 

"Apart from its literary merits, the book maybe said to possess an independent 
value, as tending to familiarize a certain section of the English public with more en- 
lightened views of theology." — London AthencEum. 

BLOOMER'S COMMERCIAL CRYPTOGRAPH. 

A Telegraph Code and Double Index — Holocryptic Cipher. By J. G. 
Bloomer, i vol., 8vo. Price, $5. 

By the use of this work, business communications of whatever nature may be tele. 
graphed with secrecy and economy. 

D. APPLETON & CO., Publishers, New York. 



Recent Publications.— scientific. 

THE PRINCIPLES OF MENTAL PHYSIOLOGY. With their Ap- 

plications to the Training and Discipline of the Mind, and the Study of its 

Morbid Conditions. By W. B. Carpenter, F. R. S., etc. Illustrated. i2mo. 

737 payes. Price, ^3.00. 

" The work U probably the ablest exposition of the subject which has been given to the world, and jroea 

far to establish a new system of Mental ii'hilosopliy, upoa^ much broader and more substantial basis than 

it has heretofore stood." — St. LtmU Deniwrat- 

" Let us add that nothing we have said, or in any limited space could say, would give an adequate con- 
ception of the valuable and curious collection of facts bearing on morbid mental conditions, the learned 
physiological exposition, and the treabure-house of useful hints for mental training, which make this large 
and yet very amusing, as well as instructive book, an encyclopaedia of well-classilied and often very 
startling psycliological experiences." — Louden Si'ecta or. 



THE EXPANSE OF HEAVEN. A Series of Essays on the Wonders of 
the Firmament. By R. A. Pkoctoij, B. A. 

" A very charming work ; cannot fail to lift the reader's mind up ' through Nature's work to Nature's 
God.' " — Lotiifon Standard. 

" Prof. R. A. Proctor is one of the very few rhetorical scitntists who have the art of making science 
popular without making it or themselves contemptible. It will be hard to find anywhere else so much 
skill in eflfective expression, combined with so much genuine astronomical learning, as is to be seen in his 
new volume." — Ckrhtian Uninn. 

PHYSIOLOGY FOR PRACTICAL USE. By various Writers. Edited 
by James HiNTON. With 50 Illustrations, i vol., i2mo. Price, $2.25. 

"Tliis book is one of rare value, and will prove useful to a large class in the community. Its chief 
recommendation is in its applying the laws of the science of physiology to cases of the deranged or diseased 
operations of the organs or processes of the human system. It is as thoroughly practical as is a book of 
formulas of medicine, and the stvle in which the information is given is so entirely devoid of the mystification 
of technical or scientific terms tnat the most simple can easily comprehend it." — Boston Gazette. 

" Of all the works upon health of a popular char.acter which we have met with lor some time, and we 
»re glad to think th.at this most important branch of knowledge is becoming more enlarged everyday, 
the work before us appears t;j be the simplest, the soundest, and the best." — Chicago Inter-Ocean. 

THE GREAT ICE AGE, and its Relations to the Antiquity of 

Man. By James Geikie, F. R. S. E. With Maps, Charts, and numerous Illus- 
trations. I vol., thick i2mo. Price, $2.50. 

"' The_ Great Ice A^e ' is a work of extraordinary interest and value. The subject is peculiarly 
attractive in the immensity of its scope, and exercises a fascination over the imagination so absorbing that 
it can scarcely find expression in words. It has all the charms of wonder-tales, and excites scientific and 
unscientific minds alike." — Bontoa Gazette. 

" Every step in the process is traced with admirable perspicuity and fullness by ]\Ir. Geikie."— Zon- 
don Saturday Review. 

" ' The Great Ice Age,' by James Geikie, is a book that unites the popular and abstruse elements of 
scientific research to a remarkable de^ee. The author recounts a story that is more romantic than nine 
novels out of ten, and we have read the book from first to last with unflagging interest."— Boston Commer- 
cial Bulletin. 

ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE BRITISH ASSOCIA- 
TION, assembled at Belfast. By Johm Tvndall, F. R. S., President. Re- 
vised, with additions, by the author, since the delivery. i2mo. 120 pages. 
Paper. Price, 50 cents. 
This edition of this now famous address is the only one authorized by the author, and contains addi- 
tions and corrections not in the newspaper reports. 

THE PHYSIOLOGY OF MAN. Designed to represent the Existing State 
of Physiological Science as applied to the Functions of the Human Body. By 
Austin Fli.nt, Jr., M. D. Complete in Five Volumes, octavo, of about 500 
pages each, with 105 Illustratif)ns. Cloth; $22.00; sheep, $27.00, Each vol- 
ume sold separately. Price, cloth, $4.50; sheep, $5.50. The fifth and last 
volume has just been issued. 
The above is by far the most complete work on human physiology in the English language. It treats 
of the functions of the human body from a practical point of "view," and is enriched by many original ex- 
periments and observations by the author. Considerable space is given to physiological anatomy, par- 
ticularly the structure of glandular organs, the digestive system, nervous system, blood-vessels, organs of 
specml sense, and organs of generation. It not only considers the various functions of tiie bodv, from an 
experimental stand-point, but is peculiarly rich in citations of the literature of physiologj-. It is therefore 
mvaluable as a work of reference for those who wish to study the subject of physiology exhaustively. As 
a complete treatise on a subject of such interest, it should be in the libraries of literary and scientific men, 
as well as in the hands of practitioners and students of medicine. Illustrations are introduced wherever 
they are necessary for the elucidation of the text. 

D. APPLETON & CO., Publishers, 549 & 551 Broadway, N. Y. 



THE GREVILLE MEMOIRS. 

COMPLETE IN TWO VOLS, 



A JOURNAL OF THE REIGNS OF 

King 6-eorge lY. & King William lY. 

By the Late CHAS. C. F. GREVILLE, Esq., 
Clerk of the Council to those Sovereigns. 

Edited by Henry Reeve, Registrar of the Privy Council. 

12mo. PRICE, $4.00. 

This edition contains the complete text as published in the three volumes 
of the English edition. 



" The sensation created by these Memoirs, on their first appearance, was not out of 
proportion to their real interest. They relate to a period of our history second only in 
importance to the Revolution of i683; they portray manners which have now disap- 
peared from society, yet have disappeared so recently that middle-aged men can recol- 
lect them; and they concern the conduct of very eminent persons, of whom some are 
still living, while of others the memory is so fresh that they still seem almost to be con- 
temporaneous." — The A cadoiiy. 

" Such Memoirs as these are the most interesting contributions to history that can 
be made, and the most valuable as well. The man deserves gratitude from his pos- 
terity who, being placed in the midst of events that have any importance, and of people 
who bear any considerable part in them, sits down day by day and makes a record of 
his observations." — Buffalo Coin-ier. 

"The Greville Memoirs, already in a third edition in London, in little more than 
two months, have been republished by D. Appleton & Co., New York. The three 
loosely-printed English volumes are here given in two, without the slightest abridg- 
ment, and the price, which is nine dollars across the water, here is only four. It 
is not too much to say that this work, though not so ambitious in its style as Horace 
Walpole's well-known 'Correspondence,' is much more interesting. In a word, these 
Greville Memoirs supply valuable maieiials not alone for political, but also for social 
history during the time they cover. They are additionally attractive from the large 
quantity of racy anecdotes which they contain." — PJiiladelpliia Press. 

" These are a few among many illustrations of the pleasant, gossipy information con- 
veyed in these Memoirs, whose great charm is the free ard straightforward manner in 
which the writer chronicles his impressions of men and events." — Boston Daily Globe. 

"As will be seen, these volumes are of remarkable interest, and fully justify the en- 
comiums that heralded their appearance in this country. They will attract a large cir- 
cle of readers here, who will find in their gossipy pages an almost inexhaustible fund of 
instruction and amusement." — Boston Satia-day Evening Gazette. 

"Since the publication of Horace Waloole's Letters, no book of greater historical 
interest has seen the light than the Greville Memoirs. It throws a curious, and, we 
may almost say, a terrible light on the conduct and character of the public men in Eng- 
land under the reigns of George IV. and William IV. Its descriptions of those kings 
and their kinsfolk are never likely to be forgotten." — N. V. Times. 

D. APPLETON & CO., Publishers, 549 & 551 Broadway, N. Y. 



THE LIFE OF 

HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS 

THE PRINCE CONSORT. 

By THEODORE MARTIN. 

IVith Portraits and Views. Volume the First, xzmo. Cloth. Price, $2.00. 



" The book, indeed, is more comprehensive than its title implies. Purporting to 
tell the life of the Prince Consort, it includes a scarcely less minute biography — which 
may be regarded as almost an autobiography — of the Queen herself; and, when it is 
complete, ic will probably present a more minute history of the domestic life of a queen 
and her 'master' (the term is Her Majesty's) than has ever before appeared." — Front 
the A t/tencettm. 

" Mr. Martin has accomplished his task with a success which could scarcely have 
been anticipated. His biography of Prince Albert would be valuable and instructive 
even if it were addressed to remote and indifferent readers who had no special interest 
in the English court or in the royal family. Prince Albert's actual celebrity is insepa- 
rably associated with the high position which he occupied, but his claim to permanent 
reputation depends on the moral and intellectual qualities which were singularly 
adapted to the circumstances of his career. In any rank of life he would probably 
have attained distinction; but his prudence, his self-denial, and his aptitude for acquir- 
ing practical knowledge, could scarcely have found a more suitable field of exercise 
than in his peculiar situation as the acknowledged head of a constitutional monarchy." 
From the Saturday Reviezv. 

" The author writes with dignity and grace, he values his subject, and treats him 
with a certain courtly reverence, yet never once sinks into the panegyrist, and while 
apparently most frank —so frank, that the reticent English people may feel the intimacy 
of his domestic narratives almost painful — he is never once betrayed into a momentary 
indiscretion. The almost idyllic beauty of the relation between the Prince Consort 
and the Queen comes out as fully as in all previous histones of that relation— and we 
have now had three — as does also a good deal of evidence as to the Queen's own 
character, hitherto always kept down, and, as it were, self effaced in publications 
written or sanctioned by herself." — Frojji the Lo7ido7i Spectator. 

"Of the abilities which have been claimed for the Prince Consort, this work affords 
us small means of judging. But of his wisdom, strong sense of duty, and great dignity 
and purity of character, the volume furnishes ample evidence. In this way it will be 
of service to any one w'ho reads it." — From the New York Evening Post. 

" There is a striking contrast between this volume and the Greville Memoirs, which 
relate to a period in English history immediately preceding Prince Albert's marriage 
with Queen Victoria. Radical changes were effected in court-life by Victoria's acces- 
sion to the throne. ... In the work before us, which is the unfolding of a model home- 
life, a life in fact unrivaled in the abodes of modem royalty, there is nothing but what 
the purest mind can read with real pleasure and profit. 

" Mr. Martin draws a most exquisite portraiture of the married life of the royal pair, 
which seems to have been as nearly perfect as any thing human can be. 'The volume 
closes shortly after the Revolution of 1848, at Paris, when Louis Philippe and his hap- 
less queen were fleeing to England in search of an asylum from the fearful forebodings 
which overhung their pathway. It was a trying time for England, but, says Mr. Mar- 
tin with true dramatic effect in the closing passages of his book : 'When the storm 
burst, it found him prepared. In rising to meet the difficulties of the hour, the prince 
found the best support in the cheerful courage of the queen,' who on the 4lh of 
April of that same year wrote to King Leopold : ' I never was calmer and quieter or 
less nervous. Great events make me calm ; it is only trifles that irritate my nerves.' 
"Thus ends the first volume of one of the most important biographies of the present 
time. The second volume will follow as soon as its preparation can be effected." — 
From the Hart/ord Evening- Post. 



D. APPLETON & CO., Publishers, 549 & 551 Broadway, N. Y. 



A New Magazine for Students and Cultivated Readers. 



THE 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 

CONDUCTED EY 
Professor E. L. VOUMANS. 

The growing importance of scientific knowledge to all classes of the 
community calls for more efficient means of diffusing it. The Popular 
Science Monthly has been started to promote this object, and supplies a 
want met by no other periodical in the United States, 

It contains instructive and attractive articles, and abstracts of articles, 
original, selected, and illustrated, from the leading scientific men of differ- 
ent countries, giving the latest interpretations of natural phenomena, ex- 
plaining the applications of science to the practical arts, and to the opera- 
tions of domestic life. 

It is designed to give especial prominence to those branches of science 
which help to a better understanding of the nature of man ; to present the 
claims of scientific education ; and the bearings of science upon questions 
of society and government. How the various subjects of current opinion 
are affected by the advance of scientific inquiry will also be considered. 

In its literary character, this periodical aims to be popular, without be- 
ing superficial, and appeals to the intelligent reading-classes of the commu- 
nity. It seeks to procure authentic statements from men who know their 
subjects, and who will address the non-scientific public for purposes of ex- 
position and explanation. 

It will have contributions from Herbert Spencer, Professor Huxley^, 
Professor Tyndall, Mr. Darwin, and other writers identified with specu- 
lative thought and scientific investigation. 

THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY is published in a large 
octavo, handsomely prijited on clear type. Terms, Five Dollars per annum^ 
or Fifty Cents per copy. 

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 

"Just the publication needed at the present day." — Montreal Gazette. 

" It i^, beyond comparison, the best attempt at journalism of the kind ever made in thia 
country." — flojne Journal. 

" The initial number is admirably constituted." — Evening Mail. 

"In our opinion, the right idea has been happily hit in the plan of this new monthly." 
"-Buffalo Courier. 

'' A journal which promises to be of eminent value to the cause of popular education in 
this country." — N. Y. Tribjtne. 

IMPORTANT TO CLUBS. 

The Popular Science Monthly will be supplied at reduced rates with any periodi- 
cal published in this country. 

Any person remitting Twenty Dollars for four yearly subscriptions will receive an ex- 
tra copy gratis, or five yearly subscriptions for $20. 
The Popular Science Monthly and Appletons' Journal (weekly), per annum, $8.00 

ir^ Payinent, in all cases, vnist he in advatice. 

Remittances should be made by postal money-order Dr check to the Publishers, 

D. APPLETON & CO., 549 & 551 Broadway, New Yoi'k. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




g irr 1 



JM- 



